Inoue Shiori
by Hermionechan90
Summary: The story of Inoue Shiori, the civilian reincarnation that made her life in the Naruto World without directly interfering with the timeline and the ripples that she caused. (Because I read so much SI's and needed to write one too!) OC, Self Insert (more of an OC then an SI as I have been informed more or less rudely).
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

When the topic rebirth comes up, most people think about Hinduism and Karma, fewer people, most of them fanfic addicts think about a second chance at life and redoing your life or being reborn with your complete set of memories in a different reality.

But only one person of which Shiori could be sure of, had went through the process and could precisely tell you how it felt when the two distinct personalities of the old and the new life clashed, fought and desperately tried to survive in some way or form,… because this was what had happened to herself.

Smiling sardonically down at the faded fabrics she was washing in the river Shiori shook her head, what the hundreds of thousands of fanfiction writers and readers would think could they see her now. All this time when they had dreamed up stories of a life after death and getting a second chance they had been writing about facts and not fiction. Shiori chuckled slightly, the irony was killing her, how often had she dreamed herself into the same scenario, even years after graduating, marrying and becoming a so called 'responsible adult' she had still loved to give into her childish urges and lost herself in the dreams about fantasy worlds and stories.

And now here she was, a female _Original Character_ trapped in a young fragile body, in a distinctively violent reality without any physical or monetary way to protect herself from the cold hard reality. Shiori sighed while she pressed the freezing water out of the yukata in her hands before she put it back into her washing bucket and fished out the next piece. So here she was now, in the Naruto universe as the daughter of poor farmers, without a chance to ever improve her life, let alone become a ninja.  
Not that she wanted that, god no, neither in her last nor in this life she had felt the urge to be brave and lead an exciting life full of adrenalin and adventure. She was a coward, although she liked to think that it was her common sense and survival instinct that urged her to live a completely normal and unspectacular life than cowardice. Of course she had read the stories of the OCs and SIs that had become ninjas because they were scared to die as a civilian, but no that was definitely not Shiori's idea of living, so civilian it was.

She sighed for a third time, now here was the next problem, having lived an unbelievably wealthy life in comparison to this new one, Shiori already knew that she would never be satisfied with her current situation, working herself into exhaustion for barely surviving from day to day. Even with ten years she was already expected to help out as much as any adult member of her family and she knew that with her age her responsibilities would only grow.

Shiori could remember that before she had turned seven she had lived the life of a cheerful and more or less content but most important oblivious lower class civilian. The village she was born into was tiny. There were barely a hundred people living in Kawa, with no school or doctor or even general store. The little village relied on the bigger villages around them to supply them with other goods then edibles. Kawa like many other small villages in Fire country consisted entirely out of the small houses of farmers and their helpers. To be honest even the buildings were more huts than houses and most of the time built out of any available natural resource the inhabitants had been able to find. Kawa was about seventy kilometers away from the capital, the seat of the Daimyo and close to hundred twenty kilometers away from the Hidden Village in the Leaves, better known as Konoha.

So here was it where Shiori learned to speak, walk, run, help in the fields and take care of the house. The chores weren't her favorite thing but she didn't know anything else and never even entertained the thought of leaving the place of her birth.

This changed when she, in her young exuberance, followed the older kids in her village and in an attempt to impress them climbed a precarious cliff beside the river and promptly fell into it.  
As a result she had nearly drowned and hit her head rather hard on one of the rocks close to the shore. If an attentive villager hadn't heard the screams of the other children, she would have probably not survived. What followed was a week of delirium and fever dreams, or at least that was what her parents told her later, they had been unable to pay for a doctor and had just waited for her to wake up or die, as morbid as it sounded.

Shiori knew better, in the time she had lain in the small side room that she shared with her grandmother; her two consciousnesses had fought for the dominance in her mind, the seven year old Shiori, with the desperation and power of her youth against the thirty six year old, just awoken and confused Eliza from New York.

Shiori had won.

Her will to live had had triumphed over the more life experienced Eliza and so Shiori, with all her knowledge and habits of a seven year old, naïve civilian made up nearly ninety percent of the personality that inhabited the young body. Eliza wasn't much more than an inner voice that could be ignored if Shiori tried hard enough.  
And she had done exactly that for the first year after her accident, the young girl had ignored the memories inside her mind and had locked them and Eliza somewhat away in the back of her mind. Now any good psychiatrist will tell you that this behavior wouldn't help in the slightest bit and that memories always find other ways to surface, but Shiori was a child and didn't understand what was going on. So instead of actively occupying herself with her past life, the little girl dreamed.

She dreamed about growing up in one of the busiest cities in the world, going to a strange school, speaking and writing a completely different language, growing up, finding a love for plants, going to college, marrying, working as pharmacist, divorcing and dying. Most of the images didn't make sense to her, the school curriculum and technology were different and far more advanced than she had ever heard of. There was violence too, but not in the same quality like in the Elemental countries.

Shiori was confused, she was after all only a little girl at the time the first dreams began, but with time the voice inside her head had become stronger once more and explained the things she didn't understand. So while Shiori learned in the real world how to read, write and count from her grandmother, her older other self taught her in their mind about medicine and plants and other things she thought Shiori could use. Shiori even started to replant the plants she recognized in a small clearing in the woods beside their home, to which she returned at every possible moment.  
The reason why Shiori was listening to the voice in her head was twofold, firstly because she had been drilled since earliest childhood to be respectful to her elders and to obey, and secondly because something deep inside her told her that she could trust this other person in her mind.

Shiori grew and with that came more knowledge and the understanding of the world she now lived in. She gradually found the connections between the memories of her old life and this new one. She had put them together slowly like a puzzle until she started to recognize certain places and titles as the ones out of the Naruto mangas in her childhood that had been her companions till her death. The thought in what kind of world she had landed let Shiori tremble.

Ninjas, wars, tailed beasts,… how the hell was she going to survive this?


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

'Life sucks,… no really life sucks, it doesn't give you a moment to catch your breath.'

That or similar thoughts ran through a devastated and frustrated Shiori's mind. She was now twelve years old and cursing her luck, fate, the fact that she was reincarnated and had somehow unlocked her memories of her previous life, oh and her looks too.

The year had begun with an unforeseeable flood that had destroyed half of her families crops, which not only meant that they were going to have a lean winter but also that they couldn't pay for the medicine her grandmother desperately needed. Shiori was aware of this the most; after all it was her responsibility to look after her strict, correct and now invalid grandmother. The elderly woman had taught her everything from reading, writing and counting to manners and tea ceremonies. Shizuka had once been the beautiful daughter of an impoverished noble family and had married Shiori's grandfather when the rest of her family had been killed on their way to relatives and she had been without any means but her stunning blue eyes and long silky black hair in the countryside. Said looks Shizuka had passed down to Shiori, who thanks to the hard life and deficient nutrition looked a lot more mature than her real age.

As a consequence of not being able to pay for the medicine, her grandmother died only a few months later with only sixty one years. Shiori had mourned her death bitterly. Her grandmother had understood her better than her parents ever could, Shizuka-obasan was the one that had noticed her bright and quick mind and had taught her a lot more than the basics of writing. She had taught her calligraphy and the poems that she still remembered from her own youth. The old woman had shown her the difference between the greetings of the different classes; she had even given her lessons in small talk and other seemingly inconsequent things that a poor farmer's daughter would never have the need of, but Shiori had loved those lessons. The little girl had practiced the brushstrokes with water on the smoothed down rocks beside the river whenever she was sent to do the washing. For that she had smuggled out one of her father's two brushes, Shiori was thankfully never caught her father would most likely have beaten her somewhat fierce. The black haired girl had soon learned to never invoke the ire of her father through disobeying an order while during Eliza's time corporal punishment was outdated and frowned at, in the Elemental countries it was common practice for parents.

When the time of Shizuka's death came Shiori had been the only one sitting at her grandmother's death bed; her parents had been working in the fields like every day. Shizuka-obasan had used this chance to make Shiori promise to make something out of her life and to never let herself be talked into anything that she didn't want, no matter if it was the wish of her parents or not.  
Shiori had promised her under tears and when her parents returned in the evening, Shiori had already put a white cloth over her grandmother's face and started to burn the homemade incense.  
Shizuka was buried on the far side of the house on the next day.

But with that the horrible year didn't end, to even out the bad harvest both her parents found additional work in the fields of the next village at the farm of Fuji-san while Shiori was responsible for the ones at home.  
It was there where her parents found their end, they had been working in the fields farthest from the farm house, bringing in the last of the crops before the summer down pour began and destroyed them. The weather had been unnaturally hot and humid for days now without the slightest breeze and this had put more than one villager on edge. This particular weather was normally followed up by a destructive hailstorm and so everybody was working themselves into exhaustion to bring in the last of harvest before the storm began.  
The hailstorm surprised Shiori's parents shortly before sundown and struck them dead. They were found after the storm had passed only a few meters away from the farm house where the other workers had found shelter.  
Shiori had been numb when she heard the news, not out of grief as callous as it sounded, her grandmother had been her real parent, Shizuka was the one that raised her and took care of her, no Shiori was devastated because she was now in the same situation as her grandmother had been without family or wealth in the countryside and with her beauty as the only selling point.

Which led to her current problem, Fuji-san had offered to marry her.  
The thought alone let her break out into cold sweat even if her mind was older; her body was still much too young to marry! She was twelve years old for god's sake, and why the hell were the women in Kawa encouraging her to accept his proposal? He was easily thirty years her senior!

Taking a deep breath Shiori tried to calm herself; she would have to get out of here as soon as possible. Todo-san, whose eldest son had recently married, had offered her to buy her land for a reasonable price. He was probably thinking that she was hesitating because she didn't have a proper dowry, well she wouldn't dissuade these thoughts. Having made up her mind Shiori walked to the other farmer's house and accepted his offer. Having just sold his crops Todo-san had enough money on hand to pay her out completely and Shiori promised to leave the house by the end of the week. Two of their other neighbors witnessed the transaction and signed as witnesses, so that nobody could claim that this didn't happen. Shiori politely said goodbye after signing before she took her leave with the money that would finance her escape, with the money now in her hands Shiori felt an immense kind of relieve, she could do this!

The rest of the day Shiori sorted through the things in the house to decide what she could carry with her and what would just weight her down. In the end she packed her two spare kimono's along with her mother's shoes and the old jade comb her grandmother had hidden from both her husband and son into her father's old but still functional duffel bag and put in every last piece of food that would hopefully hold during her journey. The paper money was then sewed into the inside of her obi while the coins were distributed between the duffle bag and her hidden kimono pockets. The rest of the day Shiori cooked the biggest meal she had ever prepared in this new life with all the ingredients left in the kitchen and the vegetable garden. In the evening Shiori burned some incense for her grandmother and parents before she leisurely ate the food. For the first time in years Shiori ate her fill and more. She packed the stuff that she couldn't finish into her family's two Bento boxes and stored them inside the duffel bag, and then she went to bed.

Shiori awoke early the next morning; she would have to hurry if she wanted to slip away without being seen. Hastily she put her clothes on before she slipped into her sandals and closed the house down. A last look behind her nearly made her turn around, but with a shaky breath she steeled herself and purposely walked down the road.

She was just passing the last house of the village when a deep voice spooked her, "Leaving hmm?"

Shiori turned fearfully to the voice that sounded from the shadows of the house on her left side, before she could say anything the voice continued.

"Tze, I don't blame you. Everyone in this village is crazy if they think it's okay to marry a little girl to an old lecher just because he is rich."

Shiori started to calm down, she had finally recognized the voice, Tanaka-san was considered somewhat eccentric by the other villagers, he was already in his late fifties and one of the more wealthy farmers in the village.

"Where are you going?" the gruff man asked.

"K-Konoha." Shiori squeaked out, she couldn't tell him that she had just decided to run without any plan or destination, Konoha was the first thing that came to her mind when he asked.

"Hhmpf, do you even know where that is?" the old man asked unbelievingly.

Hesitantly Shiori shook her head, as an answer she just received a sigh and a shake of his head.

"Continue to follow that road, as soon as you are over the hill you will see a mountain range in the distance, take the roads in that direction and you will find some bigger villages, ask there for directions and for god's sake DON'T go with strangers or take food from them." The last part was said in a stern voice.

Shiori just nodded shyly before she bowed and said a heartfelt, "Arigato for you help Tanaka-san, I will never forget."

"Hhmpf, now go you don't have a lot of time before the others awake."

Nodding Shiori determinedly walked passed him and into the woods that would lead up a small hill, the journey of her life had just begun.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Years later Shiori still wondered what kind of luck gods had smiled down on her during her journey through Fire country.

With the exception of a merchant caravan and a ninja team that was sprinting in the other direction Shiori didn't encounter anyone. On the first day she barely stopped walking, she even ate while still moving one foot before the other. In the evening her feet hurt and she was dead tired, she was lucky to not have gotten any blisters. For the night Shiori had climbed up into a tree and had curled up against a thick branch.  
On the next day she had finished up her bento boxes as breakfast and paced herself more, she stopped around midday to go through her provisions and ate some dried rice and an apple before continuing her journey. Shortly before the sun went down Shiori saw the lights of a village shining. Hesitant to approach and wanting to save her money Shiori slept once again in a tree. On her third day she received a more detailed description for her way to Konoha as well as some more advice to be wary of strangers. Shiori left the village behind before the better part of it woke up. The following days were spent much the same like the second day, the only highlights were the caravan with it's many carts and people and the ninja team that she saw while she was taking a short rest on an upturned tree. Shiori kept away from the villages and towns that had become bigger and louder the further she went, she was intimidated by the size and she wanted to avoid any kind of trouble and so she made some detours to avoid them. In the evening of the eight day Shiori was out of food and resigned herself to buying additional foods in the next village, which turned out to be unneeded because on the next morning she was awoken by a light shake of her shoulder and a ninja in her face.

Shiori took one look at her unexpected waker, squealed and promptly fell out of the tree. Luckily the ninja had dropped down at the same time and had caught her before she landed painfully on the ground. Shiori shook for a second and tears started to build up in her eyes, only the 'oh shit' expression on the brown haired man prevented Shiori from breaking out into tears. She gulped a few times before she shakily greeted the man in front of her. Said ninja smiled relieved that he didn't have to deal with tears, before his eyes turned serious and he asked her what she was doing so close to Konoha.

Shiori looked confused for a moment at the shinobi before her face turned slowly hopeful, "Konoha is near? Oh thank god I already thought that I had taken the wrong path."

"Yes, the gate is just twenty minutes away, come on I will show you.", the ninja confirmed while he nodded in the direction of the path.

"Thank you shinobi-san, my name is Shiori.", the black haired girl said politely.

"Nice to meet you I'm Bekkou. So why were you sleeping out there?", the ninja asked curiously.

Shiori blushed, "I have never been to Konoha and I wasn't sure how far away it was, so I climbed a tree every time it became dark."

Bekkou just nodded, "Sensible, so what do you want to do in Konoha?"

Shiori looked determined, "Work, build a life."

Bekkou glanced down at the young girl beside him, "You ran away didn't you? How old are you fourteen, fifteen?"

"Twelve and yes.", Shiori corrected while she checked over her duffelbag before slinging it over her shoulder.

Bekkou did a double take, "Tw-twelve? Shi- I mean damn, that's young, is there a particular reason?"

Shiori looked stubborn up at him, "I didn't want to marry Fuji-san."

Bekkou raised an eyebrow, "Yeah understandable, twelve is kind of young to marry."

"He is forty five and fat.", Shiori continued stubbornly.

"And that's another good reason." Bekkou snorted, "Well come on kid, I will show you to the immigration office."

Shiori sighed in relief, "Thank you."

Bekkou inwardly shook his head, another runaway that had found her way to Konoha. It wasn't that rare to happen, Konoha was after all known as the nice ninja village that took care of its civilians, but most of the time the people who wanted to start over Konoha never reached their destination. Even though the Hokage regularly sent out Chunin squads to deal with the rising bandit problem, they couldn't decimate all of them. So Bekkou wondered while he subtly interrogated the young girl how the hell she had missed every single of the bandit groups, because even if he wasn't interested in young girls he could admit she was pretty and would grow up to be quite the beauty.

"So, do you know what you want to do after gaining citizenship?", Bekkou asked curiously, the girl seemed pretty mature but civilian twelve year olds most of the time didn't think father than maybe a week in advance.

Shiori shrugged her shoulders shyly, before she said reluctant, "I'm not sure yet, but I know that I will need a job that will pay my rent first and foremost."

Bekkou just nodded, before he continued, "What are your strengths?"

Shiori, wasn't sure what to do, normally she wouldn't open up to a stranger like that but this was a Konoha shinobi and he probably was either genuinely interested in helping her or trying to find gaps in her story and checking if she was a spy.

So she bit her lip and answered him honestly, "I can read, write and count and I'm pretty good at cooking and cleaning, back at home I also worked in my family's fields and the vegetable garden,…"

Bekkou nodded, "Being literate is good, you already have an advantage over most of the new arrivals from the country. Most of the villages don't have schools."

Shiori nodded, "It was the same in our village, we didn't have a school or even a doctor. The village had barely a hundred inhabitants. I was lucky that my grandmother could read, write and count and that my father allowed me to learn with her after finishing my chores. She would always make me write and recite the poems of her youth." The black haired girl smiled while she thought back at the many hours she had kneeled beside her grandmother and they had written in the dirt beside the house.

"Poems?", now Bekkou was curious, farmers normally didn't know poems, even the literate ones.

Shiori nodded eagerly and started one of her favorites,  
"_With every passing day  
the autumn wind  
is blowing colder,  
the voices of the crickets  
become ever fewer_."

Bekkou stocked, this was one of the poems that belonged to the education of the lower noble families, the shinobi had become familiar with quite a few after the more or less regular guarding missions for such nobles. Without showing his inner turmoil he encouraged Shiori to continue. The closer they came to Konoha the surer Bekkou was that the little girl beside him was a descendant from some noble family that had lived in the north, not that it would help her. Mentally shrugging his shoulders he took a closer look at her appearance. Hell even her bone structure was that of a noble because normal farmer daughters were a lot more compact, Shiori on the other hand had a fine and nearly delicate bone structure. Her physical appearance would have normally made him suspicious but he was convinced for good of her truthfulness when he noticed the calluses on her hands, the slight tan line in her face and on her hands as well as the slightly emaciated form for her age, they all testified of a life full of hardship and hunger, not one of ninja training. Content with his verdict, Bekkou gave a subtle sign to the Jounin that was concealed above the gates, before he led Shiori to Izumo and Kotetsu to receive temporary access to the village.  
The two Chunins took one look at the pretty girl and blushed before Kotetsu's grin became bigger and opened his mouth to say something suave and cool, or at least what he thought was suave and cool.

Bekkou who had seen how Shiori's eyes went bigger and how she subtly moved behind him, cleared his throat and said, "Shiori-chan here needs a temporary visa, she wants to become a citizen."

Izumo just nodded friendly and took the needed pieces of paper from under his desk, while Kotetsu was still eyeing Shiori, who was now biting her lip and shyly wringed her hands.

"So your name is Shiori-chan?...", Kotetsu said, but before he could continue he was interrupted by an annoyed Bekkou.

"And she is twelve and ran away from an arranged marriage, so don't even think about it.", the brunette chunin stated annoyed, he didn't like the fact that Kotetsu didn't seem to be able to take a hint, he was a Chunin working at the gate for god's sake he should have already picked up on her body language.

Said chunin eyes widened before he blushed embarrassed and turned his eyes to the paperwork Izumo was filling out and handing over.

"Thanks.", Bekkou nodded, when Izumo finished and handed the sheets over.

"Thank you.", Shiori also said, followed by a bow, before she followed the older chunin.

Bekkou led her through a maze of streets, alleys and gaps before they stopped in front of a light blue painted building. The chunin that had been a great help to Shiori handed over her paperwork before he wished her good look and said goodbye to the young girl. Said girl thanked him profusely for his help and wished him a nice day before she sat down on one of the chairs in the entrance hall to wait until she was called into a side room.  
It took less than ten minutes until her name was called and she followed a strict looking older woman into a small room. There she was questioned about her parentage, village, reason for running away as well as her abilities. It took about two hours and Shiori had more than once answered the same question over and over. Tired and hungry, Shiori was finally granted partial citizenship; she was told that she would be watched by Chunins for the first year in Konoha before she was granted full citizenship. She received documents that marked her as a Konoha resident and with that came a working permit and paying taxes. The taxes had to be paid each quarter after the first year of residency and were calculated from her income level each year. Shiori also received a sheet with mandatory classes that she would have to visit. Those included introduction courses about the laws for civilians and shinobi as well as the daily dealings with ninja. Thanks to her literacy she didn't have to sign up for remedial classes that would cost an additional fee.  
Elated and still a bit overwhelmed Shiori made her way back into the entrance hall. She had seen a black board with cheap flats to rent as well as another board that contained job offers. The black haired twelve year old wrote down some of the addresses on the back side of some advertisement sheets that was lying in the entrance hall before she finally gave into her stomach's demands and started to search for a cheap meal.  
Since she had started her journey Shiori hadn't needed to cut into her savings yet and she winced inwardly when she saw the prices for a hot meal in Konoha. With that amount of money she could have easily bought two or even three meals in the neighbor village of Kawa. Resigning herself to the higher prices Shiori bought some yakitori at a street stand. While she finished her food on a nearby bench Shiori contemplated where she should start to search for a flat and how she should even find the different addresses. After throwing away the trash, Shiori asked the nearest vendor about the addresses she had written down. The kind older man gave her some instructions and then after some prodding on his side concerning her need of an own residency he also told her how much a cheap flat should approximately cost. Feeling relieved now that she had an idea what she could expect, Shiori made her way to the first address.

Three hours later Shiori had finished her search for a flat and had decided to rent the third of the five properties she had seen. It was a tiny place in comparison to the other flats she had inspected. The room had a small kitchenette and would probably fit a table and some chairs and her futon in the night, but not much else. Shiori didn't mind, she was used to cramped places thanks to her former living conditions and she knew that she would need to stretch the money for as long as possible. The flat had besides the bath also a small wall closet, where she could store a futon as well as her changes of clothing. To move in directly Shiori had to pay the first two rents in advance, calculating how long her savings would last with this additional strain Shiori grimaced, the flat alone would deplete her savings in two years and that without calculating in the needed groceries, clothes, pots, pans and what else Shiori would need for daily life.

She needed work and that fast!


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Worried and determined to find a job as soon as possible Shiori returned to the streets of Konoha. This time she was wearing her best kimono. It had only been worn a few times to special occasions and had been bought when the crops had been bountiful. Even than it had been a bargain deal with a hole on the front and more than a few sizes too big for the, at that time eight year old Shiori. Her grandmother had been able to hide the hole in the dark blue fabric with beautiful and painstakingly complex pink and silver embroidery that she had continued over the whole garment in clusters of flowers and butterflies. As a result Shiori had hardly dared to wear her best piece of clothing while still living in Kawa.

Shiori steeled herself and made her way to the first job offer, a dango stand. As it turned out the owners had already hired somebody else when the young girl arrived at the address. The second, third and fourth place also had filled the positions that had been advertised in the immigration office. Frustrated Shiori was on her way to the last offer; a grocery store that looked for a cashier, when a tumult in a side street drew her attention.  
She could hear how a frustrated woman in a simple but well taken care of and clean kimono was laying into a young woman who looked like she was close to tears. When Shiori was in hearing distance it seemed as if the young woman had finally enough and she simply turned around and ran away.

"If you leave now don't bother coming back!" the woman shouted behind her, before she cursed low and said, "Where the hell do I now get a girl than can do a tea ceremony?"

Shiori's eyes went wide, maybe this was her chance.

"E-excuse me? You are looking for someone who can do a tea ceremony?" Shiori asked tentatively.

"Yes,… are you saying YOU can do it?" the woman asked skeptically.

"Yes, my grandmother insisted on them." Shiori confirmed with a shy smile.

Inwardly she thought, 'Though we only ever practiced with substitutes and below standard products'.

The woman eyed her up and down, before she started to pelt out questions about a standard tea ceremony like a drill sergeant. Shiori's eyes went wide but she automatically answered every question as exact as possible. The knowledge was very deeply ingrained in her thanks to yearlong repetitions with her grandmother. After finally stopping with her questions the woman looked her over once more with a scrutinizing eye before she nodded and winked her into the side entrance of the tea house.

"Wait here, I think we have a kimono in your size." the woman ordered before she vanished into another room.

Unsure Shiori looked around, the back room of the tea house was impeccable clean and nothing was out of place. Shiori smiled a bit, her grandmother had always told her that the quality of an establishment could be measured through the cleanliness of the backroom and the state of the working kimonos.  
Only a minute later the woman stood in front of her once more, this time with a dark blue kimono that looked nearly exactly like her new employer's own, without another word Shiori was ushered into the changing room for the women to quickly dress. After she was deemed presentable and some quick last minute instructions Shiori was shown into a separate serving room where she fulfilled her first tea ceremony without a hitch in front of the critical eye of her employer, Echizen-san. After that she was left alone to complete tea ceremonies for various guests in the next few hours.

In the evening, after finishing with the last ceremony Echizen-san watched Shiori for a moment after she had changed back into her original clothing before she sighed and said, "You are good, your customers were more than happy with your service, what are you doing at the moment?"

Shiori smiled shyly at the compliment, "I am looking for work actually."

The woman's eyes started to glitter before she purred, "Perfect I need a worker, who doesn't mess up tea ceremonies at every turn. I'm willing to hire you but I only need a part time worker,… is that still okay?"

Shiori's smiled dimmed a bit before she hesitated a moment and then said, "Yes thank you, when will I begin?"

"Tomorrow at six am, you have the morning shift until ten am, everyday but Tuesday." Echizen-san stated firmly.

Shiori just nodded in response before she left the tea house, outside her lips slowly turned up she had a job! Even if it was only part time at the moment, hopefully she could become a full time worker after a few trial weeks or she would have to search a second job so that she could start saving up for her future. Elated over her good fortune Shiori skipped back to her new flat.

For the next two weeks Shiori worked every morning in Echizen-san's tea house before she spent the rest of the day either in her immigration classes or exploring Konoha. In her free time Shiori enjoyed walking through the busy village that was so different from her home village; the amount of people was unreal, even when it was nothing in comparison to a city like New York. The young girl had also become acquainted with the shop owners around her flat, it helped that Shiori had an excellent name-face memory and was always polite and friendly.

Coming to Konoha was the right decision, the village was peaceful and the people were friendly. The only damper on her mood was the fact that a full time occupation at Echizen-san's wouldn't be possible, at least not anytime soon. All the workers at her tea house had been with Echizen-san for at least two years and there would be no way, no matter how good Shiori was that Echizen-san would choose her over the other workers.  
The money that she was making was good, Shiori had received her first paycheck two days ago and with this she could easily pay for her flat and groceries, but if she ever wanted to have something better for herself Shiori would need a second income.

In a stroke of luck Shiori found said job the week after she had decided to seriously search for a second job,… well at least she had found the offer for it. On her way back from a market run Shiori saw the insertion on the black board of her district. Konoha had these useful boards all over the village and they showed important news, job offers and other important tidbits' of information that could be useful for the people to see.

The wanted ad, described a part time job as a housekeeper and cook and Shiori felt that she could do this, so she copied the address and time of the interview on a piece of paper before she returned to her flat and started to cook dinner.

Because the black haired young girl had so much free time since she was working only part time and had thankfully already finished her mandatory courses, Shiori had decided to increase her cooking talents. She had always enjoyed the task, even back at home when she had to cook over fire instead of the comfortable stove that she now used. The black haired girl also had had far less ingredients at her disposal during that time of her life. Here in Konoha Shiori had access to an abundance of basic groceries as well some of the more exotic ones and while Shiori hadn't tried out a lot of the more foreign dishes yet she was determined to someday cook them all, in this she was influenced by Eliza who herself had loved to cook and eat and always tried new things in her free time.  
That is to say, Shiori was no five star cook but she was more than decent and the familiar moves of cutting and dicing relaxed the twelve year old after a hectic day, the motions had something soothing to her and she always felt satisfied when a delicious smell waved through her flat. So to assuage her need for diverse dishes Shiori had purchased a cooking book and was steadily testing out the ones that didn't strain her wallet too much.

For the interview on the next day Shiori put on Konoha civilian wear for the first time. She had found the modest brown skirt and the green shirt in the bargain bin and had promptly bought them. Her hair had been pulled up in a simple pony tail to keep her hair out of her face. Shiori checked once more her documents and the recommendation letter from Echizen-san before the blue eyed girl made her way to the café where she would hopefully meet her new employer.  
When she arrived there and asked after Inoue-san she was shown to the back of the café where a gaggle of giggling and whispering females around Shiori's age sat. Unsure what to do Shiori sat down in one of the chairs a bit apart from them and looked around. Beside the group of giggling teenagers were two women in their late thirties as well as an older woman who watched everything with sharp eyes. At eleven am on the dot the old woman stood up and introduced herself as Inoue Mariko-san. Some of the giggling girls turned red and then white, it seemed as if they had gossiped about their potential employer right in front of her.  
With a few sentences the older woman had the group halved and the applicants that had been told to leave vanished embarrassed through the door of the café. The five females that were left were told sit down on one of the round tables, then Inoue-san asked a few generic questions about what experience they had in the household. It turned out that the two other girls had never worked for an employer before and only had experience as far as their mothers had shown them. The two older women had both families and their own children and would have to provide for them too around the time of day Inoue wanted to have a housekeeper.

"And you?" the strict looking woman asked Shiori.

"My name is Shiori, Inoue-san. I have just arrived in Konoha last month and I am a part time worker at Echizen-san's tea house in the market district. Before I came to Konoha I was responsible for the household and the care of my grandmother while my parents were mostly out on the field." The black haired girl stated simply.

"And how old are you? Fourteen, Fifteen?" the strict looking woman wanted to know.

"Twelve, Inoue-san." Shiori clarified.

The other applicants looked strange at Shiori.

"Twelve? Isn't that a bit young for a civilian to work?" Inoue-san then asked.

"I lost my family this year Inoue-san, it doesn't matter how young I am, if I want to survive I have to work." Shiori said in a calm voice, those were the facts and there was nothing that she could do to change that.

"Hhm,…" Inoue-san murmured before she dismissed the other two girls and then the mothers, after that she turned to Shiori once more, "Shiori-san I will test you for a week and then we will see."

"Thank you Inoue-san." Shiori said and sent the older woman a brilliant smile.

Inoue-san only nodded, "Come to this address tomorrow at eleven am, be prepared to cook both lunch and dinner. We will talk about your other responsibilities then." the elder woman said while she handed Shiori a sheet with an address on it.

After saying goodbye to her potential employer, a happy Shiori skipped home. On her way she checked out the address she had just received, as it turned out Inoue-san's flat was only four blocks away from her own home, which was very convenient for the young civilian.

Inoue-san turned out to be a strict but fair employer; she expected Shiori's full attention on the job but in return also paid more than generous for the girl's work. The two soon fell into a routine in which Shiori cooked lunch and dinner every day, as well as prepared a light breakfast for the following day. She also kept the rooms clean and tidy, did the washing and ironing and made grocery runs for Inoue-san. In the event that Inoue-san left her home for an errand Shiori also accompanied the elderly women to carry her shopping.

Within the first week Shiori realized why the otherwise so spry old woman needed a housekeeper; Inoue-san's left hand as well as a part of her left side were paralyzed and even seemed to cause her pain. Inoue-san tried to hide this fact from her as best as she could but the pain had to be substantial if this prideful woman had problems hiding it.  
Concerned about her, Shiori inquired at the Yamanaka flower shop about tea leaves that could ease pain. After some prodding about the injury Yamanaka-san was very helpful and handed Shiori tea leaves that had the effect that she searched for. Because the taste of the leaves was very bitter Shiori experimented at home to find a way to modify the taste or at least reduce it somewhat. For that reason she made another visit to the Yamanaka flower shop, this time Yamanaka Inoichi was the one watching the shop. He recommended a few different types of leaves and assured a concerned Shiori that none of the combinations would have a negative effect on the drinker, feeling relieved Shiori returned to her experiments. It took the black haired girl a while but in the end she quite liked the result she achieved through grounding the tea leaves and mixing them together. Inoue-san didn't thank her per se but after the first few times she drank the tea she always leveled an unreadable expression at Shiori before she returned to whatever she had done before. That her beverage wasn't rejected outright by the proud woman was thanks enough for Shiori. The slightly prickly lady had wormed herself into Shiori's heart and the black haired teenager felt happy if she could help the old woman in some way.

Shiori was so immersed in her work that she was surprised when the first anniversary of her new life in Konoha arrived. With it came her return visit to the immigration bureau where her temporary documents were replaced with the real deal. The newest full Konoha citizen then made her way to the office that was responsible for the taxes and filled out the needed documents paid her due for the first quarter in advance.  
Feeling accomplished Shiori celebrated with some mochi, at times like this she desperately whished for the western desserts that Eliza had gorged herself on in her world. While there was chocolate in this world it was mostly in bars and used only to decorate dango or mochi. Hell Shiori hadn't even seen something close to a western styled cake in Konoha, the only thing that they seemed to have were mochi and dango.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

During Shiori's second year in Konoha two things happened that stood out of her normally peaceful days, number one was that Inoue-san finally opened up a bit. She let it slip that she was a former Jounin that had graduated a year after the current Hokage and had retired after the second shinobi war because of her injury, she also told Shiori in passing that she still had living family but that they hadn't visited her in over ten years.  
Shiori felt outraged on the woman's behalf, in the area she grew up in something like that would have been unthinkable. If somebody was too old or injured to live alone and still had family they would take care of their elder without complain or having to be asked, it was just a given. Knowing Inoue-san as the strong and independent person she was Shiori refused to pity her; that would have only hurt the kunoichi's pride after all.

The second event that ripped Shiori from her routine was the Uchiha massacre.  
It was the topic of the conversations even months after it happened. The people were shocked and frightened that something like this could happen in the middle of Konoha. There was a surge of sudden emigrations throughout the first few months but this calmed down pretty soon when nothing else happened. Shiori now at least knew approximately were she was in the Naruto timeline. The Konoha eleven would be still in the Academy for some time and war and destruction was still some years off.  
Shiori had come to love her life in Konoha and didn't want to leave it even if it meant that she would have to weather invasions and destruction. Still, to give herself the option of leaving the shinobi village if things got too bad the girl decided to wait until the Chunin exams and then decide what to do.

During her free time Shiori had also started to try herself on western recipes that Eliza remembered. Most of the time those attempts went spectacular wrong because she either hadn't the right ingredients at hand or something about the temperature or amount of the dough went wrong. Those few attempts that turned out right were celebrated and after Shiori felt confident that she wouldn't mess up, she even started to present her desserts to Inoue-san, whose critical taste buds helped Shiori adapted and improve them further.  
To Inoue's question if she wanted to become a professional cook Shiori only shook her head. She enjoyed cooking yes, but it was more of a hobby for her than an occupation that she wanted to do day in day out for the rest of her life.

"So what would you want to do then, if it isn't cooking?" Inoue-san sounded genuinely curious while she watched Shiori taking care of the used plates.

The black haired fourteen year old hummed before she said slightly unsure, "To be honest I probably would like to have a tea house similar to Echizen-san. There I could offer the different tea sorts that I mix together or even some of the desserts. Hhm yes that would be nice." Shiori smiled completely immersed in her dream.

Said woman snorted amused before she stretched lightly and turned back to her book. She seemed to ponder something, before she shook her head.

A question was burning in the back of Shiori's mind and after she had finished with her chores she sat across from Inoue-san and asked reluctantly, "Inoue-san what requirements do shinobi have to feel at ease at a tea house? I see so few of them at Echizen's place."

Inoue-san just smiled wryly at Shiori before she gave in and said, "Well first and foremost, the room has to be well lit, there can't be a corner where a potential threat could hide,… then the tables should be spaced out enough so that they ninja can move in case of an attack. To the food and the drinks,… ninja are paranoid Shiori-chan; if they have no way to check for poisons they probably won't drink or eat it. So food and drink preparation on the table if possible,… oh and the windows, no tables right beside the window, somebody could take aim from outside and easily kill them, or at least wound them."

"Oh, so the windows should be high up, that nobody can look inside." Shiori tried to clarify.

"Hhm yes possibly. So what would you serve in your tea house besides tea and desserts?" Inoue-san prodded further.

"Eh, probably standard things like curry rice and a fixed menu at lunch." Shiori contemplated.

Inoue-san nodded to this before she turned once again to her book. Most of their afternoons were spent like this and both of them enjoyed the quiet company of the other.

Shiori who had grown quite a bit since arriving in Konoha and was filling out more and more now that she didn't have to go without proper food for months on end. In the last half year her breasts had developed quite a bit and she needed to start wearing a bra underneath her clothes, another change in her body was the begin of her period. Thankfully Konoha had their own version of hygiene products that could be bought in the apothecary or the grocery store.  
Her maturing figure also attracted all kinds of attention from the males in the market and streets. Shiori had been approached by more than one blushing teenager that asked for a date, which she had always respectfully declined. The civilian wasn't feeling the urge to date any of them, especially not with her mental maturity being so far ahead of those civilian teenage boys but she would probably try to have a relationship when she entered her twenties. Since she had been a child she had always dreamed of having a love marriage and family of her own. Now here in Konoha she really may have a chance to realize that dream with somebody she genuinely liked opposed to the arranged marriage that had been normal in Kawa.

And so the years flew by and Shiori turned fifteen and then sixteen. She was still working for both Echizen-san and Inoue-san and really enjoyed her work. Throughout the years she had started a slightly distant friendship with some of the civilian girls that worked in Echizen's tea house and manned the food stands in the market. They included her in gossip and pointed out bargains or new shops to her but Shiori never really connected with any of them on a deeper level or even attempted to build up a solid friendship. When the concerned black haired civilian had come with her findings to Inoue-san said old woman had just snorted and shook her head in disbelief, which led to Shiori feeling even more out of her depth.

After Inoue-san noticed that this topic genuinely distressed Shiori, she had sighed and answered her employee, "Well it doesn't surprise me. You have a good, sensible head on your shoulders which is much more than most civilians can say, even the so called adults. You are simply too mature for them, ninja would probably be a more appropriate company for you." Inoue-san sighed once more before she continued, "It's a shame really. If you had been born in Konoha you probably would have made a decent kunoichi with your quick mind."

Shiori wasn't sure if she felt flattered or terrified by the prospect of a ninja career if she had been born in Konoha; thankfully Shiori didn't have to answer to Inoue-san's laments and simply continued with her duties.  
But with Inoue-san's explanation Shiori stopped worrying so much about making good civilian friends. If she met somebody who would suit her character that would be great but Shiori wasn't going out of her way to find that person. Instead she slowly but steadily increased her amount of dessert recipes and tea mixtures. Throughout the years also a rough plan had developed in Shiori's head for the day when she had enough capital to start up her own tea house. For that reason Shiori had even started to buy potted tea plants and dried the leaves herself, to experiment with the differences in quality. She was a well known and most welcome guest in the Yamanaka shop by now and both elder Yamanakas liked to sneak samples of obscure tea leaves for her to try into her orders. Shiori even bought a cinnamon tree from them, which the black haired teen had planted on the collective roof patio of her building in a big pot. The hot and humid climate as well as the shade from the other buildings made it an ideal growing location for the cinnamon tree. It had shot up in the two years since her purchase and now was the time to cut it down close to the root. For this purpose Yamanaka Inoichi-san had specifically come to show the black haired teen how to cut it and then helped Shiori with removing the wood. The Yamanakas would use the wood in whatever way they needed while Shiori was now waiting for fresh shoots to come out to harvest for her own use.

In Shiori's mind her life could have gone on like this forever, she loved the tranquility of Konoha's streets in the morning and the busyness during the day. She even had a few run ins with Konoha's green beast Maito Gai who was running on his hands through the streets or doing other outlandish exercises on the rooftops.  
The ninja of Konoha were mostly a friendly lot, interspersed with bouts of arrogance and rude behavior but Shiori knew that assholes were a human ailment and didn't exclude the chakra using part of the population, so she just shrugged and didn't take it personally. To be honest she liked to interact with the ninja a lot more than with most civilians who were most of the time gossips, backstabbers, ass kissers or couldn't see past their own nose.  
Strangely enough during the four years she had spent here she had never had a run in with Naruto or the other main characters of the manga, with the exception of Ino-chan who she saw regularly thanks to her parents flower shop and the occasional sighting of a dark pineapple and a chubby boy with chips in his hands. Though now that she thought about it, this did made some sense, the academy was close to the Hokage tower while she lived in the outskirts of Konoha and only commuted to the market district because of work, shopping and the Yamanaka shop.

So when Shiori found on a Wednesday afternoon a dead Inoue-san in her bed, she didn't know what to do at first. She had already seen dead bodies before, thanks to her grandmother and parents but just like with her grandmother, Inoue-san's death hurt immensely. It took Shiori a while until she could break away from Inoue-san's bed. The black haired young woman then took one of the clean white linens in the hallway cupboard and gently laid it over Inoue-san. After that she locked up and made her way to the hospital where she informed the personnel about finding her employer dead in her bed. She was immediately accompanied by a medic nin as well as two workers from the morgue. A quick examination confirmed what Shiori suspicions, Inoue-san's injury had finally gotten the better of her which had led to organ failure. The attending medic-nin had taken one look at Shiori's face and had promptly reassured the shocked civilian that Inoue-san had died peacefully in her sleep without feeling anything. After the end of the preliminary examination the two morgue workers removed the body and the sheets from the bed and then made their way to the hospital with the body.  
Numb Shiori removed the groceries and everything perishable from the apartment before closing down the flat and bringing the key to Inoue-sans attorney, Atsuka Heiji-san. The rest of the day Shiori spent grieving in her home.  
When the black haired civilian arrived at Echizen-san's tea house the next day, her employer took one look at her face and sent her right back home. There Shiori spent the rest of that day in her futon, with a big box of homemade cookies, tissues and some tea to calm her nerves. She had now lost the second attachment figure in her life, she felt suddenly really alone in Konoha.  
On the second day after Inoue-san's death Shiori had herself so far under control that she could work at the tea house again even though she was less cheerful than normal. Now that she lost her second income, Shiori should have probably started to look for additional work as soon as possible but she felt unable to search for anything that could replace the work at Inoue-san's place so soon after her death. For the rest of the week Shiori looked tired and sad whenever her usual customers arrived for a tea ceremony. After the first day back at work Shiori had enough self control to hide her mood as soon as the tea ceremonies began but her guests still noticed her melancholy. It went so far that they even asked the owner what was wrong with her; Echizen-san herself was worried about Shiori. The tea house owner knew that this death had hit Shiori hard and she hoped that she would recover soon; the quiet and friendly young girl had been very easy to come to like.

While she was fighting with a grief induced depression Shiori was mostly unable to make any rational thoughts pertaining anything farther than a day a time so she was completely surprised when at the end of the week she received an invitation to Inoue-san's opening of will.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

The will reading was thankfully in the afternoon so Shiori didn't have to ask for a day off from Echizen-san. The black haired young woman arrived shortly before the appointment in the office of the attorney in black clothes. She still had dark rings around her eyes and was paler than usual. In the anteroom was already a group of people waiting, they too were clothed in black but their wardrobe was distinctly better than Shiori's, they also had a rather arrogant and impatient air around them. When they all were called into the adjourning room, they sent deprecatingly sneers in Shiori's direction.

Inside the room Shiori was greeted by the sight of two Chunin who were standing behind Atsuka-san and were flanking him. The forty year something old woman, who seemed to be the ring leader of her group didn't seem to like their presence and asked the attorney why they were there in a rather rude way.

"Matoka-san, please calm yourself. It is standard in Konoha that at least two Chunin are present when the will of such a distinguished Jounin like Inoue-san is read. They are here to ensure that her last will is followed to a T." Inoue-san's attorney explained in a rather clipped voice.

The civilian woman's face seemed to pinch but she then just nodded and dropped the matter.

"Very well, if everybody has found a seat let's begin." Atsuka-san said and started to read Inoue-san's will.

_I, Inoue Mariko a Jounin kunoichi of Konohagakure no Sato, being of sound mind, declare this to be my Last Will and Testament. I revoke all wills and codicils previously made by me._

_I appoint Atsuka Heiji as my Personal Representative to administer this Will, and ask that he be permitted to serve without Court supervision and without posting bond. If Atsuka Heiji is unwilling or unable to serve, then I appoint Shiori of Kawa to serve as my Personal Representative, and ask that she be permitted to serve without Court supervision and without posting bond._

_I direct my Personal Representative to pay out of my residuary estate all of the expenses of my last illness, administration expenses, all legally enforceable creditor claims, all Konoha estate taxes, inheritance taxes, and all other governmental charges imposed by reason of my death without seeking reimbursement from or charging any person for any part of the taxes and charges paid, and if necessary, reasonable funeral expenses, including the cost of any suitable marker for my grave, without the necessity of an order of court approving said expenses._

_I devise, bequeath, and give my entire fortune, be it monetary or otherwise to Shiori from Kawa under the condition that she takes on my last name and will be known from now on as Inoue Shiori. _

_Should Shiori of Kawa not survive me by 30 days, her share shall be distributed to the Konoha orphan fund._

_Inoue Mariko, Jounin of Konoha_

When Atsuka-san had ended the group around Matoka-san broke out into outraged shouts, only to be silenced when the two Chunins radiated slight killing intent. Shiori felt sick and shaky while she tried to keep her composure, she wanted to be far far away from this room and curl up somewhere to recover from this awful feeling.

Atsuka-san who was relatively used to the killing intent after having executed more than one ninja will, took a deep breath and stated, "This is the will of Inoue-san and it will be followed. Matoka-san, Inoue-san left a letter for your family, do you wish to hear it?"

The angry civilian only nodded, unable to say anything.

"Very well." Atsuka-san said neutrally.

_To the family of my deceased cousin Matoka Shin,_

_in the last fourteen years of my life I haven't seen hide nor hair from even one of you, so it shouldn't come as a surprise that none of you will receive anything of the money I have earned throughout my life with my blood and my pain._

_Inoue Mariko, Jounin of Konoha_

There was a short uncomfortable silence, before one of the male civilians shouted, "That is no reason whatsoever to give her money to a stupid little servant girl that is probably an inheritance hunter!" his sentence was approved by the other members of his family.

Atsuka-san looked outraged before he calmed slightly and snorted, "Matoka-san calm yourself or I have you removed from my premises and fined with libel. Now Inoue-san has given me strict instructions concerning her fortune and I will see them through. Shiori-san if you please come with me?" at the last part of his sentence his voice had taken on a gentler tone.

Atsuka Heiji had known Shiori for nearly three years now, she had accompanied Inoue-san to more than one appointment with him and in the last two years she had even been included into the proceedings concerning the flat and Inoue-san's investments. Probably to prepare her somewhat for her inheritance, Inoue-san was sneaky like that. He had liked the calm and gentle nature of the young girl that was now turning into a stunning young woman and he was glad that Inoue-san had decided to bequeath everything to her, Shiori deserved it definitely a lot more than the Matoka side of Inoue-san's family. He watched now as the chalk white and wide eyed girl walked into his personal office, the Matoka family in the mean time was escorted from the premises by the Chunins, Heiji was sure that they had enjoyed the humiliation of the rude civilians just as much as he had. The lawyer couldn't help but be slightly vindictive, said family had been harassing him the whole week about the last will of Inoue-san and that they had received nothing made him want to whistle.  
After the door was closed behind her Shiori sacked against the visitor chair and took some deep breaths while she visible fought to keep her composure. Heiji commiserated with the young woman, this must have been quite a big shock for her because as far as he knew Inoue-san never even hinted to Shiori that she had changed her will in the young civilian's favor. After giving her some time to calm down somewhat he gently led her through the legal jargon and put the papers that would change her name in front of her. With shaking hands Shiori signed the papers and gulped when she saw the numbers on the bank accounts, if she wanted to she would never have to work in her life again. Inoue-san's investments were scattered through Fire country would make enough money that she could live quite comfortably without ever lifting a finger again. When the legal requirements were completed, Heiji handed another letter over to Shiori, Inoue-san had written it only a few months ago and he was curious what it said.

_Dear Shiori-chan,_

_I know that my death must have come suddenly for you, but I have known that it was only a matter of months for quite some time now. You have given me a lot of joy this past few years and I am glad that I chose you to become my housekeeper. You are a beautiful and through and through good girl and I feel relieved that I can entrust my family name and fortune to someone like you and not those vultures of second cousins of mine. Beside my flat and a few houses which are rented out, there is the former clan compound of the Inoue's. I had it closed down after the last of my ninja relatives died during the third shinobi war. I know how you always dreamed of buying a house somewhere close to the woods and I think the clan compound would be the right place to fulfill your dream. Should you decide to use it please hire some ninja to go through the building before you move in. I set traps and other countermeasures before the house was closed down and they are most likely still active, so please be careful. _

_I also want you to fulfill your other dream. You now have the means to open up your own tea house and I want you to do it, your sweets need to be shown to the world.  
I know I have never been able to show you how much your company has meant to me, but I want you to know that in the time I have known you I have come to love you as if you were my own grandchild._

_I wish you a fulfilled life and hope that you will find happiness._

_All my love,_

_Inoue Mariko_

Shiori noticed that something was dripping on Inoue-san's letter, confused she lifted her hand to her face, she was crying silently. Gently she put the letter down on Atsuka-san's desk before the tears came in heaps and then she let out all the grief that she had been unable to let free the week before.

Atsuka-san stood helpless by her side, unsure what to do. He settled to just move the tissue box in front of Shiori and winked his secretary into the room. The slightly plump mother of three took one look at Shiori and took the distressed young woman in her arms. It took Shiori nearly half an hour to calm down again. When she had some of her composure back she apologized profusely to both Atsuka-san and his secretary Mamoru-san who just waived her apology aside, it wasn't the first time somebody had broken down in the office and it would surely not be the last time.  
Atsuka-san agreed readily to take care of Shiori's new fortune as well as her properties and after signing a standard contract, Atsuka-san promised to inform the mission office about her wish to open up the Inoue-clan compound. Tired and emotionally drained Shiori left the building, thankfully the next day was Tuesday and she wouldn't be needed in the tea house. It was barely five pm when she arrived in her flat but Shiori fell directly in her bed and slept until late into the morning of the next day.

When she awoke again Shiori still wasn't sure if yesterday wasn't a dream but after she saw the paperwork lying innocently on her table she slowly accepted it as reality. With Atsuka-san as her attorney, Shiori now didn't have to take care of her taxes, Atsuka-san's employees would calculate the amount and she would just have to authorize the quarterly transaction.

So after eating some leftovers Shiori started to write a list of what she wanted to do or change. The first thing she decided was dissolving Inoue-san's renting contract with the end of the month. Shiori had spent a lot of happy hours there but without Inoue-san she didn't want to keep the flat. She wasn't sure how long the repairs would take on the Inoue compound and so she decided to wait with dissolving of her own contract for a little while longer. The next logical step that she should take was the dissolving of her contract with Echizen-san but at that she hesitated. Echizen-san had been her first employer in Konoha and it was also through her that Shiori had learned so much about running a tea house. Unsure the black haired young woman bit her lip before she breathed and decided to talk with Echizen-san the next day and give her notice for two weeks so that she could find another girl in the mean time. Nodding to herself Shiori finally came to the topic of her own tea house, she was unsure what to do after all she had never run such an establishment before. So Shiori put the name of her attorney down along with a question mark, hopefully Atsuka-san would be able to help her.

Just as she had promised herself she talked to Echizen-san on the next day, of course the woman wasn't happy about losing one of her workers, but nevertheless wished Shiori good look for her future. In the end they agreed that Shiori would continue to work in the tea house until a replacement could be trained sufficiently. When she visited Atsuka-san on the same day to add her teahouse idea to the long list they would be talking about, he informed her that the mission office had already assigned a team to her for the following afternoon. Happy that everything was moving so fast Shiori returned to her flat and baked some of her western desserts, she would use the opportunity to see how other people then Inoue-san reacted to them. She cut her desserts into sizeable piece and placed them into some Bento boxes before she put them into the fridge.

The next day after finishing with work Shiori hurried home and collected her treats and put them and two thermos flasks of tea into a basket along with some cutlery, napkins and plates. The food and beverages were hidden under a big picnic blanket that Shiori spread on the top of the basket before she made her way to the Inoue-clan compound.


	7. Chapter 7

**Because some of you have asked, I will put the pairing up the moment it becomes relevant :D, oh and the story has over 30 Chapters so you can look forward to approximately one per day for the next month :D**

**Chapter 7**

When Shiori arrived at the address no one else was in sight yet and she took the time to check the location of the clan compound and the street it was in. From the mangas Shiori knew that a small stripe of buildings along the outside wall hadn't been destroyed during Pein's attack. With any luck the Inoue compound was outside the blast radius and the house would be still intact after the attack, which was another reason to stay in Konoha.

Shiori wasn't even waiting for five minutes when a chunin team popped out of nowhere in front of her. The leader caught the basket that she nearly dropped and apologized sheepishly, which Shiori promptly waved away and laughingly said that they just caught her by surprise.

"Shi-Shiori-san right?" asked the brunette chunin unsurely on her left.

Shiori took a closer look and then smiled at the older man, "Izumo-san, it is nice to see you again. It has been nearly four years."

Said chunin blushed after Shiori smiled at him, before he scratched his head and asked, "Yes, so what have you done since then?"

Shiori's smile dimmed a bit when she said, "I worked for Inoue-san as a housekeeper, she died nearly two weeks ago."

Izumo could have hit himself; he had made her sad, "My condolences."

"Thank you." Shiori just nodded with a shaky smile.

The team leader coughed and Shiori's attention went back to his form, he looked around thirty years old and had an eye patch over his left eye, "My name is Akame Iwana. These are Kamizuki Izumo, Hayase and Okei. You asked for a team to take a look at this compound?"

"Yes Akame-san, thank you for coming. My name is Inoue Shiori, my employer Inoue Mariko-san, was a kunoichi of the leaf and left everything to me. She cautioned me to hire a team to disengage the traps she had put up."

"We understand, thank you. Do you by any chance know what rank she held?" asked Akame-san.

"She was a Jounin that fought during the first and the second shinobi war." Shiori answered slightly confused.

The chunin looked at each other and sighed, before Akame-san turned once more to Shiori, "Inoue-san, war veterans are known to be notoriously paranoid, we would feel better if you stayed as far as possible away from the house until we have found all the traps."

Shiori nodded and after the chunin team had checked over a part of the lawn, Shiori sat down there on her picnic blanket and did some reading. She could hear the clashes of metal on metal as well as the curses of the ninja that worked themselves first through the three normal sized houses between the front gate and the main house and then the dojo. They returned to her picnic blanket two hours after the start slightly battered to take a breather from the flying kunai and senbon.

Shiori promptly invited them to sit with her and drink some tea and eat some sweets. At first the Chunin were slightly unsure what to do with the snacks they had never seen before but when Izumo bravely took a bite and promptly dug into his piece the rest followed suit. What followed was round after round of compliments that turned Shiori's face into a tomato.

"Inoue-san, these snacks are delicious! Where did you find the recipe?" a smiling Okei asked.

Shiori returned his smile and said, "I like to experiment Okei-san, believe me it took me quite a while to receive these results." At the last part she giggled while she thought back at her first attempts.

"Are you going to open your own restaurant? Because I know these would be a hit with Konoha's population, especially the girls." the chunin continued to say.

Shiori smiled, "Not a restaurant per se, but I would like to open a tea house. So you like them? I'm glad."

Izumo watched Shiori while she talked to his team mates. She had flourished since she had come to Konoha, her beauty was even more radiant and she seemed to have lost some of her shyness.

Shiori who had noticed Izumo's gaze, asked curious, "Kamizuki-san is something wrong?"

"No, don't mind me I just thought how much you changed since you arrived four years ago; you were pretty shy and skittish at that time." Izumo explained.

"Yes well, on my trip to Konoha I was warned to be cautious around male adults and while your friend Kotetsu-san wasn't in anyway pushy I still was wary." this time Shiori looked embarrassed onto her hands that were folded in her lap.

"Sensible, that's what it was." Akame-san snorted before he continued, "How old were you when you came to Konoha if I may ask the reason?"

The smile Shiori gave the eldest of the round was slightly forced, "I was twelve at that time. I had just lost my family shortly before and then a wealthy farmer of the neighbor village wanted to marry me. I… I didn't know what to else to do, so I sold my parents land and vanished as fast as possible."

Around her the shinobi raised their eyebrows and thought that the young woman in front of them was very lucky to have escaped her fate. They knew from stories that in the countryside such marriages were still common practice; nevertheless it was something different to hear from such an occurrence directly from one of the few who had escaped it.

Hayase, who had given his piece of cake his whole attention looked now up and said, "Well it seems as if luck is now on your side, you have inherited a nice place to live and can make your dream reality."

"Yes," Shiori's smiled became bigger once more, "You are right."

Akame-san nodded before he said, "Well then, let's continue our work."

The other Chunin sighed and threw wistful glances at the bento box that was still full with sweets. Shiori noticed their gazes and promised under giggles that they could take the cake home with them. So while the Chunin were back at springing traps and disengaging them Shiori laid down once more with her book, a content smile sneaked on her face while her plan to open up a tea house started to take form. Sometime after half past five the Chunin were finally finished and Shiori walked cautiously into the main house to inspect the damage.

The main house was a rectangular building with an inner courtyard and two stories high. The damage was thankfully not as bad as Shiori had feared, thanks to the bordered up windows and doors nearly no damage was done to the interior. The house hadn't been maintained for more than twenty years so that the roof would have to be fixed and the tatami mats had to be renewed. She also needed a complete new kitchen; the old one was nearly thirty years out of date and still used a wood stove.  
The moment she wandered into the courtyard she fell in love with the house. There was a coy pond without any fish in it and overgrown flowerbeds as well as an old weeping willow. A happy sigh escaped Shiori while she looked around some more, the second floor of the clan compound held the master bed room and ten more rooms. It didn't look like the integrity of the building was in danger so Shiori made a mental note to hire Genin teams to clean up and repair the minor damages.  
Happy Shiori skipped back out and beamed up at the taller shinobi while she thanked them for their assistance, completely absorbed in her thoughts Shiori missed the effect her smile had on the males. Even Akame and Okei who had thought they had gotten somewhat used to her beauty, blushed bright red and felt embarrassed and proud at the same time, it wasn't that often that they got to work for such a pretty and polite client. As promised Shiori handed over the last pieces of cake before she skipped back home.

In the next four weeks Shiori hired three Genin teams who repaired the roofs, cleaned up the overgrown courtyard and the lawn area, removed the dust and debris out of the houses and painted them freshly inside and outside before having them closed up again. After that Shiori sent them into the woods that belonged to the property and had the Genin collect the fallen branches and twigs as well as cutting the trees that had fallen over into sizeable blocks for fire wood.  
A civilian checked the central heating that had been installed into the main building and attested that it was in a good condition, the pipes ran under the floors and through the walls and would keep the whole main house warm in the winter. Another civilian company connected the main house to Konoha's electricity network and after that the carpenter assembled the new kitchen for Shiori and a second company renovated or rather ripped out the two already existing bathrooms on the first floor and installed another three on the second floor, meanwhile the ten smaller bedrooms were also turned into six bigger ones.

At the end of the month, perfectly timed to the end of Inoue-san's renting contract, Shiori hired another Genin team to carry and assemble her furniture from the shops as well as Inoue-san's and her own apartment. Shiori had spent the time her house was being fixed up looking through catalogs and checking out furniture shops all over Konoha. The Genin were a big help because they could carry things more than a few times their body size and were also a lot faster than any civilian adults. She just had to direct them where to put which piece of furniture or moving box in the house before she dismissed them. As nice as the young Genin were she didn't particular like the idea of somebody knowing what was inside her moving boxes and so Shiori spent the weekend unpacking her and Inoue-san's stuff into her new home.  
Especially Inoue-sans jutsu scrolls and sealing books were handled with care and repacked to be neatly stacked on the attic, Shiori didn't need them after all but also didn't want to get rid of them. Inoue's books on the other hand were placed into the room she had designated the library. The Genin had done a good job in fitting the bookshelves together and creating a cozy atmosphere. The room was on the other side of the kitchen and had a tiled bench that was heated through the central heating, beside the bench the room also contained two big armchairs, a couch and small side tables.  
Shiori had changed her mind concerning the flooring and had now parquet throughout most of the house with the exception of the traditional tea room, which held new tatami mats as well as the traditional tea ceremony tools that Shiori had found on the attic. The parquet floor had turned out not only to be sturdier but also cheaper thanks to the fact that they lived in Konoha were wood was in abundance.

Shiori's kitchen was her favorite room in the house, she had been a fan of open concept since she had seen Eliza's old apartment in her dreams and now she had it in her own Konoha home. Shiori had light grey granite kitchen countertops while the kitchen furniture was made out of a dark red cherry wood. The kitchen isle that stood at the transition to the living room also had a breakfast bar with four bar chairs in silver and black. Her new appliances also fit into the color scheme seamlessly thanks to all the shiny silver surfaces.  
The rest of the big room contained a sitting area near the center consisting of a large brown corner sofa out of leather with matching brown leather armchairs and a glass coffee table on a light brown carpet, some potted plants, a solid wood table with six seats and a display cabinet that showed the beautiful chinaware Shiori had also found on the attic. Shiori had discovered the fifty pieces strong set in her second week of exploring but decided to only show cast enough for fifteen people in the living room. The rest of it was washed and put back on the attic should she ever have more guests then fifteen she could draw from the stash there. For day to day meals she would use the simple plates Inoue-san had used in her flat, her own china had been sold at a second hand shop.

To be honest Shiori had sold most of her belongings before moving to the Inoue compound, the only things she had held onto were her clothes and some of the baking utensils she needed to make western styled desserts. So most of her house furniture was either newly bought or taken from Inoue-san's belongings.

The main entrance showed in the direction of the compound gates and it opened into an anteroom where two cupboards for shoes and slippers stood. The room had four doors, the entrance door from outside the house, the door that lead to the courtyard that was directly across the main entrance, as well as doors in the other two walls leading into other rooms.  
The right door led into the traditional tea ceremony room with appropriate furniture and utensils. Through left side door you walked into the staircase which led up to the second floor as well as the cellar. In the corner of this room was also one of the two baths of the first floor integrated. The room following the staircase was the living room with the open kitchen. It was the biggest room in the house and the wall leading out to the courtyard was made out of floor length glass panels with a sliding door in one of them. The room that connected next was the library, followed by a room that Shiori wasn't sure what she should do with it but contained the door to the back yard. The last room that was connected was a guest room with en suite. This room contained a simple but comfortable bed with a wardrobe as well as a desk and chair combo in front of the window looking over the courtyard.

On the second floor Shiori had left nearly all rooms unfurnished. Only the master bedroom with it's en suite and the two other bathrooms on the floor were fully equipped, the Master bedroom lay conveniently right beside the stairs. Because Shiori had slept most of her life on the floor she had taken extra care in choosing a king size bed for the master bedroom. Furthermore the master bedroom had a walk in closet and a Jacuzzi bathtub with an extra shower, a toilet and two basins; Shiori had enjoyed indulging herself like this and deemed it a worthy investment. Her bedding was in a light green color with white and dark green blades of grass scattered. On both sides of her bed were side tables that held a bedside lamp and on Shiori's side an alarm clock. There was also a little dresser along the outside wall of the bathroom which only contained Shiori's jade comb and a nice pair of pearl earrings Inoue-san had given her as a sixteenth birthday present.

Shiori was content with the momentary state of her house, it didn't feel empty anymore and she was sure that she would find a way to fill the other rooms with time. The following two weeks Shiori spent in the garden behind her house and replanted her cinnamon tree as well as started a small vegetable and herb garden. Because she didn't have a garden shed Shiori hired another Genin team to set up some more shelves in the room that led to the back yard and she converted it into a work room which contained her gardening tools as well as her storage place for her tea leaves and experiments.

The courtyard was also cleaned up by those Genin and Shiori bought Koi fish for the pond and trimmed the weeping willow. In the evenings she would now sit on the patio in one of her new lawn chairs and enjoy the fresh breeze that came with the night, Konoha in midsummer was very hot and humid.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

During the day Shiori now worked on her tea house concept, she had already filled out the forms needed for a tea house permit and was now waiting for the approval of the right departments. In the mean time she worked herself through the different properties that were available in Konoha; unfortunately for Shiori she didn't find even one house with high placed windows. Instead she grudgingly settled on a property that was close to the stadium and had floor length windows, quite the opposite from what Inoue-san had said. The renting price was relative cheap because the restaurant that had been in the space before hadn't worked out very well. The ninja avoided it because they felt too much like a goldfish in a fishbowl and the civilians avoided it because of the proximity to the ninja stadium as well as the training grounds and weapon shops that were in near vicinity. The area was generally frequented by a lot of ninja that had either settled in the surrounding apartment blocks or came to shop here and so with time the civilians had started to avoid the area somewhat.  
But back to the windows, Shiori knew that with help of Fuinjutsu it was possible to turn the windows into a reflective surface from the outside and she had decided to pay the hefty amount so that the paranoid ninja didn't feel like they were sitting in a fish bowl.  
On the other hand the floor length windows now offered a perfect view on the main street leading up to the stadium, perfect for a stake out Shiori though wryly while she ticked the location of her list.

The next thing that she had planned was the alteration of the restaurant, instead of two service rooms, a kitchen and some back rooms, Shiori had the building converted into one single room with only some small rooms that ran along the backside of the building and contained the changing rooms for her personnel and an access staircase to the cellar and the floors above, beside it and only accessible from the service room were toilets for the clients.  
In the middle of the service room was the kitchen in a rectangular form and instead of normal brick walls were glass panels installed, again with Fuinjutsu seals. This time against fogging, greasing, smell and noise. The guests would have a perfect view into the kitchen without having to deal with the noises or smell whenever the kitchen door or the specifically installed sliding windows would be opened. The kitchen was state of art and could easily hold up to ten cooks at any time; Shiori figured that was more than enough for the size of the service room. Shiori was so unbelievable glad that her landlord had allowed her to renovate and remodel the place as much as she wanted. Directly under the kitchen was the storage room for the groceries, the cellar had been easy to convert and now also held the additional furniture and tools for the tea house as well as a dirty laundry room. After thinking over the costs, Shiori had decided to outsource the washing of the tea house laundry. The next thing she had had built was a wooden stage in the back left corner of the room, while in the right was the entrance to the back rooms. The wooden stage would serve for the more traditional tables and tea ceremonies.  
The tables and chairs were easy to purchase after that, they all were made out of sturdy Konoha wood as was the wooden flooring. The ceiling had evenly spaced roof lights which bathed the whole room in warm but sufficient bright light. To be on the safe side Shiori ordered two times as much glasses, tea cups, dishes and etc than would be needed to equip the whole room.  
When the renovation was complete but Shiori was still waiting on her other orders to arrive, the black haired young woman started to put up job offers around the district and Konoha. A lot of people came during the allotted interview times and a lot of them left when they found out where the tea house was located and what kind of duties they would have.  
But some of them stayed.

The people, that especially caught Shiori's eye were the forty five year old widow Tachibana Emiko and the thirty two year old Kouken Sora.

Emiko-san was a cheerful, childless woman who had lost her husband some five years ago. Other than most of the Fire country civilian women she hadn't drowned in the despair and uncertainty of the death of her spouse, instead she had kept living her life as fully as possible. And that was quite the accomplishment because you could practically hear the love that she felt for her deceased husband when she was talking about him. The rotund woman was not only delightfully frank but also didn't shrink back from taking charge and leading others. It also didn't hurt that her food was delicious, her cooking clean and precise and she expected the highest hygienic standards from herself and the people working with her in the kitchen. Emiko-san hadn't even found it strange or even too forward to be expected to whip up some food in the new kitchen right during her interview. After tasting her food Shiori hired her on the spot and left it to her to interview the other kitchen personnel and decide who to hire. After the elder woman had signed the working contract and additional secrecy contract concerning her recipes, Shiori had invited her over every day for a week and showed Emiko-san her own creations. The middle aged widow had been over the moon and instantly started to practice to be ready on the day of the opening.

Kouken Sora-san on the other hand was a stern, nearly grumpy early aged man with silvery temples and stress wrinkles around his eyes. His austere manner would probably have turned off potential employers but Shiori was intrigued by the air around the man. She didn't ask him what happened to him that he needed to work at her tea house but already after the interview in which he gave an impeccable presentation of a tea ceremony she knew that he was vastly overqualified for just being a simple waiter and made him promptly the head of the serving staff. His stunned expression was quickly hidden but Shiori was sure that she had made the right decision.  
Other than with Emiko-san, Shiori kept sitting in on the interviews of the serving personnel, after all she wanted to cater to ninja primarily and that meant good nerves and a steady hand.

For the opening she had five waiters and three cooks, not including Emiko-san and Sora-san. Shiori thought that this was a good size for the beginning and so after some more training days she opened Mariko's tea house as she had called it in honor of her benefactor on a warm August day.  
The week before she had not only had her desserts patented but also placed notices of her tea house on the black boards all over Konoha.

For the first hour not a single guest walked into the tea house until Shiori decided to send out her two youngest workers with samples of her desserts into the street to offer it to the passing people. It took less than an hour to have the tea house half full.

While the first few hours were still slightly chaotic while her personnel and clientele got used to the food and beverage preparation directly on the table, the performance of her workers smoothed out in the late afternoon and when they closed down the tea house for the day, all of them were glowing in satisfaction that everything had worked out so smoothly.

The next day the tea house was a lot fuller then the day before and Shiori thought that she recognized some of the ninja that were described in the Naruto manga, keeping her head on the job she soon forgot about them to turn her thoughts to more pressing matters.  
Her desserts were becoming very fast, very popular and after the first week Shiori had to have a dessert show case added to the kitchen area with one waiter standing behind it so that he or she could keep up with the steady demand of desserts to go.

On the second day after opening her tea house Shiori even recognized the Chunin team that had disengaged the traps in her home. Her good name-face memory was now getting a hefty workout with the amount of ninja that came and went from now on. The few civilians that had frequented her tea house in the beginning nearly completely vanished and only came back to get some take out, which to be honest didn't bother Shiori that much.

The young adult had an appreciation for the blunt and sometimes a bit crude honesty of the ninja visiting her tea house and they in turn appreciated her prompt, polite and most important discreet service. Shiori also took the time to hold her personnel back in the evening for an hour to discuss mishaps and positive occurrences and so drilled in a certain behavior concerning the ninja clientele into the heads of her civilian workers.

Three weeks after opening Sora came up to Shiori to request some additional workers, he was the one who had a better overview of the amount of work inside the tea house because Shiori had taken to primarily work the six traditional tables in the back, with occasionally another worker as support.  
Going over the numbers of the first few weeks after opening the tea house Shiori quickly agreed and Sora and Ai, who was one of the younger waitresses that had proved herself as very reliable and a good character judge, took over the interviews for more workers. While Shiori had the last say, she was glad that her workers showed initiative and independent thinking; as a result she upped Ai's pay and made her second in command of the service personnel.  
The two employees hired an additional four waiters and after Emiko brought up the same problem, another two cooks and an apprentice were included into Mariko's tea house.

Shiori had noticed that the biggest part of her clientele were the career Chunin that kept Konoha's administration running as well as kept the caravans protected. While there were more Jounin than in the beginning, most of them hadn't set a foot in her tea house yet.

With the additional personnel and the ever increasing clientele, Shiori decided to put up some ground rules for her workers to follow. The list was hung up in the changing rooms as well as the storage room in the cellar so that whenever they passed through these rooms they got an eye full of the principles of the tea house.

.) The customer is king! So stay polite, but you don't need to agree to everything, if there is a problem that you can't solve get either Sora, Ai or Shiori!

.) Mariko's tea house caters primarily to ninja, so be prepared to encounter eccentric individuals. Remember they are your clients! Polite, quick and friendly behavior is expected from ALL personnel, no matter who it is!

.) If a ninja requests a different table and said table is free, do what he/ she wants.

.) There may be emergencies to which a ninja has to respond immediately and isn't able to pay at the moment, write down either the name or description of the ninja and the sum they own us. Most of them will return some time later to take care of their debts. If they don't politely remind them the next time you see them, DON'T accuse them, they could have genuinely forgotten about it.

.) Should there be a fight between two ninjas in the tea house and they take out weapons, STAY AWAY you don't want to get between two fighting ninjas. Remind them from a far enough distance that fighting is prohibited in the tea house and they should please take it outside. Most of the time, their comrades will stop them anyway so try to stay out of the altercation until you think there is no other way.

Those rules had diffused more than one tense situation after they were hung up and the personnel learned to bring any irregular situation that wasn't written on the rule of conduct lists to Shiori who expanded the lists and worked with Sora and Ai on solutions to problems that appeared while serving food and beverages.

Shiori's next contact with one member of the Rookie nine was through the Hyuuga clan, who nearly exclusively occupied the six traditional tables in the back. During one of the tea ceremonies she was introduced to Hiashi-sama's daughters, Hinata-san and Hanabi-san, who were eleven and five respectively. It took Shiori three visits of the main family to coax Hinata a bit out of her shell and have Hanabi drop her overly formal behavior.  
Her polite, calm and always friendly behavior seemed to endear her to Hiashi-sama, although Shiori had the feeling that it also had a lot to do with the fact that she seemed to be a good influence on his daughters. Hinata's stutter decreased in her presences and Hanabi seemed happier.

After accompanying her father for some months Hinata also started to visit without the presence of her family. She sometimes arrived in the afternoon, probably right after the end of the Academy to take some desserts with her. During that time Shiori would talk with her over some general topics and discreetly slip in some breathing or self esteem exercises that she could remember from Eliza's life which would hopefully help with her stutter.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

There was a reason why Shiori always used well populated areas and tried to be home before a certain time. During the years spent in Konoha her admirers had become bolder and bolder with their affection which made Shiori incredible uncomfortable and wary. None of them were even close to what she thought her partner should be and so she kept on declining, which unfortunately made them angry, disappointed and in some cases even aggressive. So when Shiori had to leave the tea house later than normally she already had a bad feeling about the evening. She tried to reach her home as fast as possible when she was halted by Sousuke-san, the apprentice of a baker that lived close to the market district.

"Shiori-chan wait!" he slurred while he grabbed for her arm.

Shiori could thankfully escape his grab and desperately tried to find a way around her obstacle, "Sousuke-san I told you to stop calling me in such a familiar way, it's Inoue-san to you."

"Oh come on Shiori-chan, I know that you like me." came the indignant voice of the male in front of her.

"I certainly do not Sousuke-san, now good night!" Shiori said definite before she tried to walk past the drunk man.

"NO, you are not LEAVING!" the drunk shouted and grabbed Shiori's wrist painfully hard.

The drunk man wasn't much taller than her but he sure had a lot more body mass and strength than the sixteen year old young woman. Desperate Shiori tried to free herself from his grip and when that wasn't working she tried to call for help which was abruptly stopped by Sousuke's backhanded slap in her face.  
Shiori tasted blood.

"Now listen here you bitch! You are mine, I have been chasing you for three years now and I have enough of this game of cat and mouse, you will,…" but he couldn't finish his sentence before he sagged together and nearly squashed Shiori under him.

The weight was nearly immediately lifted of her form and Shiori starred with tear filled eyes at Hatake Kakashi. A single whimper escaped her when Sousuke's grip around her wrist finally slackened and she could pull the hand back to her body.

"Are you alright?" the deep voice asked in a serious manner.

Shiori could only shrug her shoulders, tears were running down her face and she was fighting to keep her composure. Her mind was frantically imagining what could have happen if the shinobi in front of her hadn't stopped the now unconscious drunk.

The silver haired shinobi in front of her took in her swollen wrist as well as the fast swelling cheek and the blood that was running down the corner of her mouth and his gaze darkened. It was one thing injuring someone in a fight but forcing oneself onto a petite civilian girl? Kakashi had to suppress the urge to kill the rat bastard, had he been anywhere else he would have killed the man and be done with it but this was his home town so he swallowed his reflexes down and turned his attention back onto to the shaking civilian in front of him.

"May I have your name miss?" Kakashi asked in a, as non threatening voice as possible.

"I-Inoue Shiori." came the somewhat reflexive answer of the black haired woman in front of him.

"Nice to meet you Inoue-san, my name is Hatake Kakashi, I am a Jounin. Do you think you can walk? The police station is only a block away." Kakashi's voice had subconsciously taken on a softer tone, dealing with scared civilian women wasn't his strength but he knew enough to not demand that she came with him and unintentionally made the situation worse than it already was.

"I-I,… yes thank you Hatake-san." the black haired young woman said before she trembling wiped away her tears with the back of her uninjured hand.

Kakashi just nodded, flung the unconscious male over his shoulder and started to move in the direction of the police station. The woman was lucky that he had taken this route today and had seen the bastard hit her. Kakashi halted in his thoughts when with the next breeze her scent was blown into his direction and discreetly inhaled deeply, even with the pain and fear clouding her natural scent it was appealing to him. Kakashi couldn't help but wonder how she would smell when she was happy or aroused. Immediately the silver haired Jounin scolded himself, he had no business fantasizing over a civilian, especially not after she went through such a traumatic event.

The strange group arrived at the station only five minutes later, the working Chunins stared for a second at the well respected Jounin and the timid and battered looking woman before their looks hardened when they saw an unconscious man slung over Kakashi's shoulder.

A black haired female chunin walked closer to Shiori and asked, "Miss? Would you please come with me? I want to take a look at your injuries."

Unconsciously Shiori looked up to Kakashi to check his reaction, the older man only nodded and made a hand wave in direction of the medic nin. Feeling reassured Shiori accompanied the older female into a side room where she was examined briefly before her injuries were photographed and then healed. After her injuries were taken care of she was escorted into a smaller side room where Kakashi was already waiting.

The Jounin took another discreet deep breath and nearly groaned; now that the pain and most of the shock was gone Inoue-san's scent was mouthwatering. He also had finally the opportunity to take a good look at her in a well lit room. Well he thought sardonically, he certainly couldn't fault that bastard for his taste. Inoue-san had the typical delicacy of a noble's daughter; combined with her electrifying blue eyes and midnight dark hair she probably attracted attention wherever she went. Kakashi was ripped out of his musings when the interview started.

"What is your name and occupation." the Chunin asked in a neutral voice while he watched Shiori's reactions, his colleague on the side was writing down a protocol.

"My name is Inoue Shiori. I am the owner of a tea shop close to the stadium." Inoue-san answered honestly, her voice tone clued the ninja's in that she was still slightly shaken for her encounter.

"What were you doing out so late." the Chunin continued.

The questions were standard but Kakashi felt the irrational urge to scold the Chunin in front of him for asking in such an accusing way, Inoue-san hadn't done anything wrong after all.

"I was held back in the tea house because a supply delivery arrived very late today and the kitchen will need it tomorrow. So I checked it for faults before repacking it and closing up." Inoue-san's voice was now getting surer while she talked about her profession.

"Do you know the man that attacked you?" the Chunin asked while he carefully watched her face for any clues.

The civilian's face darkened into a scowl, "Yes, his name is Sousuke Yamato-san he is an apprentice baker in the market district and has been making advances at me for the past three year although I have told him again and again that I'm not interested." the last part was said in a clearly frustrated voice.

Kakashi scowled, men that didn't understand when a lady said no were the worst in his opinion, they were placed right after Konoha missing nin on his mental list of people that could go and die.

"So what happened exactly?" the Chunin prompted.

"He started with calling me Shiori-chan although I have forbidden him to use my name so familiarly and tried to grab my arm. The first time I could elude his grip but when I tried to run past him he caught my wrist and squeezed hard before he pulled me closer to him. I then tried to scream for help for which he slapped me. The next thing I remember is that he was suddenly unconscious and Hatake-san lifted him off me." Inoue-san's voice had distinctly become higher while she remembered what happened, her eyes had an ominous shine to it that promised that tears were in the civilian's near future.

The chunin across from her had finally enough information and thanked Shiori for the statement before he had her sign it. She then was informed that they would wait until her attacker was sober the following day to persecute him.

Shiori just nodded at that before she turned around to Kakashi, the HATAKE KAKASHI and thanked him for his help. The Jounin in front of her had taken on a more relaxed pose and just waved aside her gratitude. He then left the police station while a chunin escorted Shiori back home and advised her to invest in better locks and to not stay out late if she could avoid it.  
The next day after having recovered from the shock, Shiori was determined to thank Kakashi for his help even if he didn't want her thanks, she felt it was her obligation, even more though it was her innate curiosity that was interested in meeting one of her favorite characters in the Naruto manga. Shiori was curious how similar the character and the real life version really were.  
So when she saw Izumo with some of his colleagues sometime before lunch, Shiori walked over to their table.

"Is everything in order?" Shiori asked when she arrived at the table, to which she received enthusiastic nods from the whole group.

"Yes thank you Inoue-san, can we help you with something?" Izumo asked curious, he was the only one that wasn't stuffing his face at the moment and that was because he was drinking his favorite tea.

"I… Kamizuki-san do you know Hatake Kakashi-Jounin?" Shiori asked tentatively.

Izumo looked now a bit guarded, while he replied, "Yes why?".

On the table the other chunin watched the interaction somewhat tense, as ninja they were naturally suspicious if somebody enquired after their colleagues, especially concerning such a distinguished one as Hatake.

"He saved me yesterday from a drunk civilian and I would like to thank him for his intervention." explained a somewhat embarrassed Shiori.

The shinobi around the table relaxed, they had heard rumors about Kakashi helping a civilian woman the other night but they hadn't expected it to be Inoue-san.

"Is everything alright, are you hurt?" Izumo asked now concerned, while he looked her body up and down, searching for visible signs of injuries.

Shiori just smiled and reassured the kind chunin, "Don't worry, the medic nin on duty healed everything up,... So is there a possibility that you see him today?"

"Yes, he will probably be at the Jounin room afterwards." Izumo confirmed.

Shiori bit her lip, "I hate to be a bother but could you give him something for me?"

"Of course, it is no problem Inoue-san." Izumo agreed readily.

Shiori sighed relieved and smiled "Thank you." And with that she left the chunin table.

After paying, Izumo walked over to Shiori to tell her that they were leaving; Shiori nodded and quickly made her way to the kitchen dome and retrieved a carefully wrapped Bento. Izumo's eyes went wide but he didn't say anything instead he just nodded and left.  
The Chunin group eyed the carefully wrapped package and the shinobi were complaining to each other about the unfairness that Kakashi was receiving a bento from Shiori. All of them ignored the fact that it was just as a thanks for her rescue.

When they arrived in the Jounin room, Kakashi was already lounging there and looked absorbed in his book. Izumo carefully put it in front of him and then waited until Kakashi finally looked up to eye the Chunin group around him and then the bento in front of him.

"Izumo,… please don't take this the wrong way but I like girls." Kakashi said nonchalantly and a tad too innocent.

"Hah bloody hah Hatake." Izumo said while his eyebrow twitched, "We were at Mariko's today and Inoue-san gave us this for you as a thank you for yesterday evening."

"Hhm, interesting." Kakashi hummed while he made no attempt to open the Bento, he was enjoying the curious tension of his kouhais too much to give into his own curiosity just yet.

"Come on Kakashi open it, we want to know what she packed into it!" Okei finally broke down and exclaimed loudly.

"Hhm,… oh well." and with that Kakashi slowly opened the cloth.

There were three containers, neatly stacked on each other and on the first was a sticky note that read, 'Thank you very much for your help.' Inside of the first were three dishes, karaage, salmon teriyaki and tempura meticulously separated from each other, the delicious smell turned nearly every head in the room. Kakashi grinned in his mind and made a mental happy dance. It had been a long while, if ever, since he had eaten such a delicious looking bento from a pretty girl, without her having ulterior motives. The second container was filled with two colored rice, the one side plain white, the other one silver colored just like his hair and over both sides was sesame sprinkled, it looked artistic in it's simplicity and Kakashi could practically feel the jealousy around him increase, which made this thank you gift only better for him. When he opened the last compartment he was a bit confused, he had never seen such snacks before. His musings were interrupted when Izumo and Okei made frustrated noises beside him while Hayase's eyes went wide and he shouted.

"That's,… I can't believe it. Okei, Izumo look! That is not made from the cook at Mariko's, that's from Inoue-san herself, only she makes these elaborate decorations and there are even some pieces that I have never seen in the display case." Hayase eyes went even wider when he came to the only conclusion this led to and he looked frantically from container to container, "That means,…"

And all three chunin shouted at the same time, "IT'S HOMEMADE."

This time Kakashi grinned without hiding it before he lightning fast packed the containers together once more and had the cloth back on it.

"Ma, look at the time I have to go." and with a cheerful hand wave he vanished through the door.

"Hatake you bastard, SHARE!" came the frustrated shouts from the ninja room before a chuckling Kakashi shunshined away, he had a Bento to eat.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

The first time Shiori noticed that Kakashi was sitting in her tea house was a week after she had sent him the homemade bento through her Chunin acquaintances.

The black haired woman had received the cleaned up Bento box along with the neatly folded cloth when she locked down the tea house. Inside the cloth was a small note with a 'Thanks' and a hemo hemo moheji, Shiori had giggled at the childish sign before she folded the note carefully and put it into her pocket, she couldn't help herself but flush slightly. This was Hatake Kakashi after all, she had read about his adventures in her teenage years and like many others had enjoyed the fanfictions that centered around the aloof ninja,… it also didn't hurt that in this life he really was just as tall, broad shouldered and with a sexy aura around him as so many fanfictions had described him.

The silver haired copy ninja had sat down at one of the smaller booths in the back and was reading his book. Shiori had added those booths after a suggestion of some Chunin when she had asked about the lack of Jounin and what she could do to make them more comfortable here. The booths were hardly visible from the front or the other tables but were also far enough away from the other tables to not make the other guests uncomfortable and paranoid.

As soon as she saw the eccentric shinobi Shiori searched frantically for her head waiter, she knew that Sora-san didn't care for perverts and so thankfully could stop the serve elder man from walking over to Kakashi and giving him a piece of his mind. While her head waiter had a stormy expression on his face and looked very put out by the fact that Kakashi was reading porn in the tea house, he still listened to Shiori who told him that they would have to take such behavior in stride as long as it was not too offensive.

After calming Sora down a bit Shiori walked over to Kakashi to take his order personally. During the whole process of delivering the food and preparing the tea Shiori never tried to catch a peek at Kakashi's face once. She did this out of respect for his privacy even though she was just as curious as the rest of Konoha's population, maybe even more so.  
After it became clear that Shiori really wouldn't be peeking, the civilian nearly felt the physical relief from Kakashi when he picked up on her discreet behavior. She saw his shoulder slump in a different way than his normal slouch and noticed that he was slowing down with his eating and drinking. Now she felt guilty to even having entertained the thought of trying to sneak a peek. He was wearing this mask for a reason, whatever that may be and making him uncomfortable just because she was curious how he looked like was really deplorable.  
Shiori refilled his cup of tea two times and brought him another cake before the silver haired Jounin paid and then vanished into the streets. He even left a generous tip which was more than unusual from what she knew of the normally so frugal Hatake she had read about in the mangas.

After that the silver haired Jounin became a somewhat regular customer at Mariko's, his continuing patronage brought another clientele to Shiori's tea house, the hyper paranoid and eccentric.  
So Shiori put up a second list of rules of conduct after Ai had a rather colorful encounter with Maito Gai.

.) When a guest doesn't want to show his face, like Hatake Kakashi, this means for you to concentrate on another spot, no matter how curious you are your eyes will STAY AWAY from his/her face.

.) When a guest is as exuberant as Maito Gai, it is okay to feel out of your depth but never ever show it in front of the guest, just roll with it and stay polite no matter what.

.) When a guest wants to prepare his or her tea themselves it is none of your business; you just hand over the utensils and make your regular rounds before offering more.

.) When a guest requests privacy you indicate the privacy seals on the table; take the order and leave, when you return to deliver the order wait a short distance away from the booth until the guest has acknowledged you and disengaged the seal.

.) When a member of the Inuzuka clan or anybody with an animal partner requests a table, show them to the specifically designated area with the right Fuinjutsu seals and don't forget the second menu for the partners. Personnel with allergies, please reference the guest to another staff member.

In the months after Kakashi had started to visit her tea shop Shiori had commissioned the Fuinjutsu department a few more times to place privacy seals on every table as well as set up an area that vanished the smell and hair of the animal partners of the ninja.  
The menu for the furry partners had been an idea of one of her younger waitresses who had an Inuzuka boyfriend. Said Inuzuka had happily supplied his help with choosing certain dog food variations for nin dogs. They now also kept dry and long nonperishable food for other species after consulting with their human companions if the animals were unable to talk. The only thing that they didn't serve were live animals Shiori drew a line at that, Mariko's was a tea house that catered to humans first and foremost who may be disturbed by this and to be honest if the black haired civilian thought about all the cute little mice and bunnies that would have to die, she felt like crying.

As a result Shiori had nearly tripled her clientele and was three months into her life as a business owner already thinking about rehiring for a second time and expanding her business hours. With the revenue being a lot higher than she had anticipated she was also thinking about outright buying the building and expanding upstairs, but this was only a thought for the distant future.  
The tea house was always fully occupied now and reservations were jealously guarded. As far as Shiori was aware her reputation in ninja circles was growing rapidly, her fast, polite and adaptable service as well as the fact that she expected the same standard from her personnel had earned her the respect of a lot of high placed ninja who rewarded her with their continuing patronage and word of mouth advertisement.

With her staff drilled in most responses and Sora, Ai and Emiko there to have an eye on the situation Shiori relaxed a bit and spent again more of her time back in her home where she created and reinvented recipes for the tea house. But even so, the blue eyed young woman was a fierce believer of the phrase, 'Trust is good, control is better.' and made surprise visits without telling any of her staff beforehand to check on the service standards, until now there thankfully hadn't been any gross mistakes.  
That changed when during one of these surprise visits a little blonde haired boy stumbled into the tea shop. While the atmosphere didn't change, there were suddenly a lot more eyes on the personnel and the boss, as in her.

Feeling the sudden increased attention Shiori turned around to see what had the ninja in such a tizzy. She then witnessed how one of her newer staff members tried to shoo the boy out of the tea house without creating a commotion. Shiori's gaze darkened, oh no she didn't! With some quick steps she was beside the waitress and turned to her employee.

"Thank you Rei-san, I think you are in need of a break." Shiori said with a clearly fake smile that didn't reach her eyes.

Said woman gulped and vanished quickly into the back rooms of the tea house.

"Now then what do you want?" Shiori asked curious the little boy with the whisker marks on his cheeks.

Naruto, of that she was sure, looked slightly distrustful before he turned red when his stomach growled. Shiori giggled slightly before she pointed at her newest offer, prepackaged Academy student sized Bento boxes, an idea she had developed after a conversation with Hinata.

"Do you have something with Ramen?" the blonde boy wanted to know in a slightly too loud voice.

"I'm sorry but no we don't have Ramen here." Shiori denied somewhat amused.

Naruto's eyes went wide, "No Ramen,…", it was nearly whispered but before he could say anything else his stomach growled again.

"Let me tell you what, you try the Bento box here and then tell me the next time if it was good or not." Shiori tried to reason with the ten or eleven year old boy.

"Okay." Naruto grumbled before he handed over more than the amount that stood at the blackboard.

Shiori returned the excess money to the confused looking Jinchuuriki and wrapped the box quickly with a second elastic strap so that it couldn't open accidently before waving Naruto goodbye. After the boy had vanished into the streets, Shiori gave Sora a quick hand sign that he was responsible for the serving room and made her way to the back rooms, the closer she got to it the more prominent became her frown.  
Sufficient to say she laid into Rei-san about appropriate behavior especially concerning child customers before she fired her and informed Sora that they were in need of another server. None of her other staff dared to say anything against Shiori's decision and did their best to not give her a reason to fire them even if they disagreed with her, she was their boss and she was paying them a lot more than her competition did. So arguing about serving the Kyuubi brat didn't even enter their minds, they were just glad that it was Rei-san who had made that particular mistake as the first one and not them.

A few days later Naruto returned once more and made a beeline to Shiori, ignoring the woman that was behind the counter, to the quiet relief of said woman, she had lost her nephew during the Kyuubi attack and would have to practice some more to treat the boy neutral.

Shiori smiled down at the boy and Naruto grinned in return before he said, "It's not as good as Ramen but it's really not that bad."

Shiori snorted at the cheeky boy before she went with him to the counter, where Naruto pointed at the Bento Box with the least vegetables.

Shiori shook her head and scolded slightly before she said, "Of course you choose the box with the fewest vegetables, I should have known. You should eat more of those!"

"Ugh but I don't want to eat those yucky vegetables." Naruto pouted while he looked mistrustful at the colorful Bento that Shiori had in her hands.

The black haired woman shook her head before she said, "Let's compromise, you eat this Bento and I will give you something sweet for after lunch."

Naruto seemed to think about her offer before he reluctantly nodded, Shiori had to bite her lip to not burst into laughter, kids were so easy to bribe with sweets. She wrapped the box also in a second elastic strap before packaging a piece of the strawberry cake into a second container and handing them over to Naruto, who handed her the money, this time the correct amount.

Before he could run out of the building Shiori asked, "Wait a second, you have been here two times now and I still don't know your name."

Naruto turned around and looked confused before he grinned up at her and said, "Uzumaki Naruto, dattebayo."

Shiori smiled at the cheerful answer before she said, "I'm Inoue Shiori, it's nice to meet you."

"You too, nee-chan." Naruto called before he ran out of the door.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

From then on she saw Naruto two to three times a week if she spent every day in the tea house. All of their encounters were pretty similar with Shiori scolding him about his intake of vegetables and Naruto giving her cheeky answers. A few times he even dragged some of his friends with him, like this Shiori got introduced to Kiba carrying a tiny Akamaru, Shikamaru and Chouji, who she scolded just as much about eating vegetables when they tried to choose the boxes with more meat. They moaned about Shiori trying to force vegetables into them but readily complied, after all they were too used to it by their mothers. Their complains were more of a token protest than anything else, especially after they had eaten her sweets for the first time and also received pieces for free like Naruto if they chose a Bento Box filled with vegetables. Shiori had a horrible weakness for children and so she told herself that she was just binding future customers to her tea house.

For a month nothing changed in this routine until Naruto one day dragged the Hokage into the tea house.  
As soon as she recognized the head of Konoha Shiori urged Sora to get the frozen and excited staff moving before she went over to the table of the Hokage and handed over the menu cards. She returned Naruto's cheerful greeting while she nodded respectful at the Hokage. When they were ready to order, Shiori gave Naruto a pointed glance when he chose once more the meal with the fewest vegetables. After some light pouting he changed his order and grumbled about icky vegetables while Shiori turned to the Hokage to take his order. The blue eyed civilian didn't miss the sharp eyes that didn't leave her form the whole time while she forwarded the order and then took care of some of the other tables in her corner. When she returned with their orders the Hokage watched like a hawk when she finally unloaded their plates in front of them and refilled their cups with tea and juice. Naruto dug into the food as soon as it was placed in front of him while the Hokage kept a watchful gaze on the small blonde boy for the first few moments before he himself started to eat.

Hiruzen had to give it to Inoue-san her food and service was excellent, none of his shinobi had exaggerated when they had talked about the new tea house close to the stadium. The Sandaime had already considered visiting it himself when his monthly visit with Naruto was on his time table.  
After Naruto had told him about a place that while it wasn't making ramen it was still making pretty good stuff, Hiruzen had been instantly on guard. Which of those damned civilians was now taking advantage of Naruto? Frustrated that he had to grin and bear it that the civilians thought they could do with Naruto what they wanted, the Sandaime promised himself to ruin the restaurant should he notice even the slightest bit of hostileness from the staff and owner.  
So when he was led to Mariko's Sandaime was in a bit of a dilemma, he didn't want to close down one of the few establishments that made his ninja comfortable but he still held stubbornly onto the thought that if they treated Naruto unfairly they would deserve to be ruined.

The woman that served them seemed to know Naruto pretty well because she answered his cheerful greeting with one of her own without the slightest bit of subliminal anger; she seemed to be genuinely happy to see the little blonde knucklehead. The next occurrence was even stranger, when Naruto chose the meal with the most meat just as Hiruzen had anticipated instead of just taking the order the waitress had scolded at Naruto until the boy had sighed and pouted before ordering the meal with the most vegetables in it. The old Hokage was so shocked that only his more than half of a century long experience let him hold onto his benevolent mask and place his own order.  
For the rest of the time spent in the restaurant the Sandaime watched the young waitress buzz around the different tables and take care of even the most obscure orders and wishes without batting an eyelash. The other staff around her was doing exactly the same with only slightly inferior poker faces. Whoever this Inoue-san was, she knew what she was doing concerning her customer service for ninja, no wonder the tea house was so popular.  
When their waitress removed the plates after they had finished Naruto looked expectantly at their young waitress and was nearly vibrating in his seat, as an answer the woman's lips twitched and she told him to go and choose, whatever she meant with that before she turned back to him once more and asked politely if he too would like some dessert.

The old man looked appraisingly at the young civilian before he smiled genuinely and said, "Surprise me."

Shiori nodded politely before she followed Naruto to the counter where he was already going through his options before choosing a strawberry shortcake. Since the first time she had given him that particular dessert he had nearly been obsessed with it, for the Hokage Shiori chose a slightly less sweet green tea cake that would fit perfectly with his drink. The tea house owner sent Naruto back to the table and returned only minutes later with their respectable desserts before she returned to the other tables. Even if she was interested in how the Hokage would react to the foreign desserts she wouldn't break her own rules and stare at him while he wanted to enjoy his food. And so Shiori only returned after the unlikely pair had finished with their food to ask if they had another wish.

"Yes young lady, would it be possible to speak with your employer?" the Hokage asked kindly.

Naruto beside him started to giggle before he grinned up at his grandfather figure and said, "But jii-chan, Shiori-nee-chan is the boss!"

"He is right Hokage-sama, I am Inoue Shiori, the owner of Mariko's." Shiori simply stated.

"Interesting." the old man murmured before he continued, "I just wanted to compliment you on your excellent service and unique food, I have never tasted anything like this before."

Shiori blushed a bit before she said, "Thank you for the compliment Hokage-sama." before she bid the two farewell and returned to serving the different tables.

When Shiori walked home on the next day she was stopped by an ANBU member who informed her that she was summoned to the Hokage tower. After giving her approval to be touched the ANBU operative shunshined Shiori to the entrance hall of the tower. From this place she was led up into the office of the Hokage. A strange calm had taken a hold of the black haired civilian woman on her way up, the Hokage wanted to speak to her that was fine she didn't have anything to hide concerning her business or her interaction with Naruto.  
So when the Hokage just looked at her for a while Shiori just smiled politely and stayed quiet, after all she was used to stranger behavior of her clients and the searching gaze of the Hokage wouldn't make her break protocol and address him first.

"So tell me Inoue-san how do you like living in Konoha." The Hokage asked randomly.

Shiori's smile became quite a bit more genuine before she answered, "I like it here Hokage-sama, it is more of a home than my birth village has ever been."

Sarutobi nodded at that before he suddenly completely changed direction, "So tell me why do you keep serving Naruto when you are most likely aware that most people don't like him."

Shiori couldn't help but snort before she said, "I know that he is a pranking and attention seeking little brat with too much energy and too little patience and yes I know how annoying he can get sometimes but that really this isn't a reason to bar him from eating at my tea house. Naruto is a paying customer and the customer is king, full stop. I'm sorry to say this, but most of the civilians here really need to get a hobby if a little hyperactive boy bends them so out of shape." the last sentence was said with an eye roll.

"So you don't even care if you lose business for catering to Naruto?" the Hokage asked somewhat confused and apprehensive, what was her true reason for treating Naruto so kindly?

Shiori looked disbelieving at the Hokage, he probably hadn't seen her numbers or he wouldn't ask this question, "Losing business? Hokage-sama I cater primarily to ninja who don't seem that bothered by him, if at all and really even if I did lose business I haven't felt it yet. Quite the contrary to be honest, I will have to hire another three or four new staff members to keep up with the demands. I'm even thinking about expanding the opening hours and moving up into the second floor."

The Sandaime nodded, still not completely sure about her intentions but feeling marginally better at letting Naruto have contact with her. So without having any other reason of keeping her at his office, he wished her a pleasant evening and the ANBU that had intercepted her shunshined her home.

After her visit with the Hokage nothing of note happened for a time, well maybe the expansion of her tea house into the second floor of the building as well as the increased business hours were somewhat noteworthy.  
For this event Shiori trained her newest staff just as strict as the original one. Everyone in Konoha who was seeking employment knew that she expected full concentration and impeccable manners from her staff but that she was also the by far best paying employer in the tea house business in probably the whole Fire country. Her newest staff was tested and tried during the busiest hours of the day, the change of guard shifts and after Shiori was sure that she could leave her customers to the mercies of her newest employees without them embarrassing her, she spent some more time back at her house devising new recipes and beverages as well as working on improving her home and tending to her ever expanding garden.

And then during one of those days, Hatake Kakashi literally fell into her lap.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

No really, the silver haired Jounin fell LITERALLY into her lap.

Shiori had been tending to the tea bushes she had planted only a week ago when a silver haired shinobi in full ANBU uniform but without animal mask collapsed from a tree and landed only a scant meter beside her on her back lawn. She hadn't even heard a branch move or creak and so nearly had a heart attack when the ninja just fell out of the tree like a stone.

After a moment of shock Shiori had hurried over to the sprawled out figure and checked for a pulse and a heartbeat. She didn't even think about the fact that Kakashi probably could easily kill her in his unconscious state if he perceived her as a threat. Looking back Shiori was unsure how she had maneuvered the man that was twice as heavy as herself up the three stairs of the patio and onto the blanket before she had dragged him like this to her guest room that was thankfully on the first floor and only one room away. She had used her last strength while moving the still form of Hatake Kakashi onto the guest bed before she hastily made her way out of the house and to the Konoha hospital.

There she explained as discreetly as she could to one of the medics on duty what had happened in the last half hour at her home. In less than a minute after the wide eyed kunoichi had hurried away another medic had shown up and shunshined them both back to Shiori's house.  
There after instantly starting to work on the unconscious shinobi, the male medic diagnosed Kakashi with serve chakra exhaustion after a thorough examination. The silver haired Jounin would have to be on a strict bed rest for the next forty eight hours at least. After Kentarou-sensei had made the direness of Kakashi's situation clear to Shiori, she immediately agreed to house the shinobi until he was back on his feet. The medic nin in his late twenties left her with some medicine that would increase Kakashi's chakra recovering rate and the warning that her unexpected guest would mostly likely wake up with a ravenous appetite.

Shiori spent the rest of the afternoon and evening in her living room reading. She wasn't expected at Mariko's for another four days and so she returned to her leisure activities that had been interrupted by Kakashi's sudden appearance.  
On the next morning like every other day Shiori harvested the different kinds of tea leaves from her herbal and tea garden before putting them up to dry in her work room, she also took the time to routinely check up on her house guest every half hour. Around eleven o'clock when Shiori peeked in on her injured guest once again she was surprised to find him struggling to get up. Shiori walked calmly into the room and explained to the still slightly disorientated and taciturn ninja where he was and what had happened to him. At first he didn't want to take the glass water that she offered him to drink from but when he saw her taking some big sips herself he reluctantly agreed. When Shiori tried to place the glass into Kakashi's hand they both realized that he still was too weak to hold the water glass himself, so he civilian woman sat down on the corner of the bed and turned herself away from him and let her hand be guided by his weak ones to his mouth. It took quite a while until Kakashi was finished but Shiori had learned to be patient with ninjas and so didn't complain or moved too fast in the Jounin's presence. Shortly before Kakashi went back to sleep she also somehow convinced him to take the medicine the medic had left for him.

Now that she knew that the silver haired ninja would awake again in the near future Shiori started to prepare a healthy and especially nutritious meal for him as well as put some cake and cookies in the oven to give the silver haired man some fast calories.  
The second time Kakashi awoke Shiori could force some cake into him before he fell asleep once more. When he finally awoke for good around ten pm, Shiori reheated dinner for him and left him with the bowls full of food alone. An hour later she knocked on the guest room door and when she peeked in Kakashi had finished with everything she had brought him and was close to falling asleep once more. Shiori reminded him to take the chakra supplements' before she removed the cleared plates and left him to his sleep.

The next day Shiori witnessed one of Kakashi's escape attempts from her home, he had only made it out of the guest room before she pointed more than irate back at it. The ninja tried to justify his unsuccessful attempt that he didn't want to be even more of a bother. Shiori didn't know why the as stubborn and bullheaded described man decided to give into the demands of a weak civilian female but after she had made sure that he returned to the bed, the black haired young woman started to prepare a big breakfast for him.  
Like the day before she left him with the food alone and included some desserts which were rich in calories and would hopefully help him recover faster. Shiori repeated the whole procedure some time after lunch before Kakashi finally had enough energy to stand for short periods of time. At this point Shiori left him with some towels and shampoo so that he could take a shower if he wanted too and returned to the kitchen to start dinner, Kakashi had eaten nearly continuously since waking up and all the plates were always empty which worried Shiori that he still didn't get enough nutrition and calories for his body and so promised herself to continue to cook large amounts until he started to leave some leftovers.  
Some time before she was finished with cooking she noticed Kakashi making his way into the living room. The genius was leaning heavily on the wall for support and Shiori wanted to desperately help him but knew that that would only hurt his pride, so she bit her lip and watched him drop exhausted on the couch. After some inner debate Shiori finally moved to the sitting area and spread one of her throw blankets over Kakashi, said shinobi watched her actions with an unreadable eye but also didn't reject her silent fussing.

The woman's eyes went to the clean pair of trousers and the simple black wife beater and mask combo and furrowed her brows before she said, "Do I want to know how you got those clothes when the medic told you that you aren't allowed to use your chakra?"

Kakashi's eyes became a mischievous glint and he wiggled his fingers before he said in a slightly tired voice, "Magic."

Shiori just snorted shook her head and went back to the kitchen. The blue eyed civilian finished dinner a short time later and moved all of the plates to the sitting area, where she then only concentrated on her own bowl and the slowly vanishing sun on the horizon that reflected in her Koi pond. They had a slow and stocking conversation while they finished the food but it was in no way uncomfortable for the two. Kakashi was more concentrating on inhaling the tasty morsels before him and Shiori was thinking about the Wave mission and the many more missions that would force Kakashi's body on the brink of exhaustion and beyond, and she worried. Shiori couldn't tell why she felt so attached to the shinobi that was practically a stranger to her even if she had read about him in Mangas. When the two were finished Shiori moved the plates back into the kitchen area and cleaned them up, both of the occupants of the house settled back into the sitting area and read a bit. Sometime later Shiori made some tea for them and the two spent a relaxing evening in mutual silence and in the company of books.

The following morning Kakashi left the house before Shiori woke up, but before that he had neatly folded the blankets and cleaned up the mess he had made in the bathroom the day before. The silver haired Jounin returned still somewhat unsteady to his flat where he slept for the rest of the day, dreaming of delicious food, a warm voice and Shiori's comforting scent.

From that time on it was as if Shiori saw Kakashi everywhere she went. Furthermore she had the suspicious feeling that somebody was watching her when she did her day to day chores. Strangely enough she didn't feel threatened by the feeling which made her more than curious because as long as she could remember the hidden gazes of her civilian admirers had always made her uncomfortable and still did. But with this stalker Shiori even kind of enjoyed being the center of somebody's attention. Her own behavior made the black haired civilian wary and so she took some extra care to stay in high populated areas whenever she could.

Her interactions with Kakashi also changed after that weekend, instead of the polite and slightly fond if formal distance with which the shinobi had treated her, Kakashi had started to tease her or draw her into long and intricate conversations outside the tea house whenever they were not under the scrutiny of other ninjas or noisy civilians.

Shiori was catching herself completely letting her guard down around the mysterious ninja and was now looking forward to even more talks and little chance meetings with him. Somewhere deep down she knew she was being manipulated in some way but funnily enough it didn't bother her like it would had it been anybody else. Shiori didn't think that Kakashi would hurt her deliberately or manipulate her into a situation that would make her truly uncomfortable.  
The silver haired Jounin seemed to take some kind of pleasure from making her blush with his small backhanded or hidden compliments. The black haired woman always had to toss and turn his statements around her head before she understood them and as a result couldn't hold onto her normally impeccable poker face.

Shiori had been seventeen for some months now, when Kakashi came to her house for the first time since he had left it after recovering from chakra exhaustion a month ago. The civilian was surprised at his visit but not uncomfortably and so invited him into the house. Strangely enough Kakashi declined her invitation and instead stood on her front patio across from her and fixated her with an unreadable stare before he started to talk.

"So,…" Kakashi said casually, "What are you doing on Saturday evening?"

"I… I'm not sure yet." Shiori said confused, with Kakashi she could never be sure where the conversation would end up.

"Have dinner with me." the silver haired Jounin said plainly.

Shiori's eyes widened "D-dinner as in a,… Kakashi-san are you asking me out?" the black haired woman asked disbelievingly.

"Yes." the shinobi simply stated.

"Oh,… I…" Shiori blushed and looked on the floor before she shyly said, "I would love to."

"Good, I will pick you up at seven then, goodbye Shiori-chan." Kakashi said before he cheekily invaded her personal bubble and stroked a strand of hair out of her face.

Shiori could hear him chuckle while he walked away, her face had now the color of a ripe tomato thanks to his actions. The young civilian woman was unable to move for some time, the only thing that ran through her mind was 'Hatake Kakashi asked me out, THE Hatake Kakashi asked me out. God what should I do? He is right in the middle of all the chaos throughout the series; do I really want to do this to myself? On the other hand I really, really like him, he is everything the manga and some fanfic authors have described him as and so much more, I didn't think it was possible but I WANT to be in his life as more than just a fleeting acquaintance.'

These thoughts haunted the petite civilian all night long before she decided to simply wait and see. She wouldn't try to push for a relationship but if this date went well she also wouldn't distance herself from the man she felt attracted to just because she knew that a lot of trouble would be waiting for him in his near future.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

Suffice to say Shiori was very nervous on that Saturday evening; she had spent the whole afternoon changing outfits a few times before she settled on a very pretty, apricot colored summer dress and simple black flats and a matching purse, no need to set yourself up for a painful and embarrassing fall if you weren't used to heels. As far as the make up went she only wore a few brushes of mascara on her eye lashes, she didn't particularly care for it but felt like she should make at least an effort; it was after all a date.

When Kakashi arrived at her home he had already expected Shiori to look good, after all she always looked nice but on that evening the dress she wore looked like made for her and the mascara enhanced her eyes and let them shine even more intensely.  
If Kakashi hadn't had extensive training in keeping his poker face he would have probably stood in front of her gaping like an idiot. Instead he greeted her warmly and complimented her on her looks like the aloof bastard he liked to portrait himself as, to his delight this turned her cheeks slightly pink and made her look down, he truly loved making her blush.  
Kakashi would never admit it but asking her out and deciding where to take her had made him a lot more nervous than even some of his A and S ranked missions. Letting somebody in after all this years and setting himself up for a potential heart break was more terrifying to the seasoned ninja than some of the suicide missions he had run with his colleagues.

Kakashi had finally admitted to himself that he liked Shiori on more than a primal level some days before getting up the nerve to ask her out. Thanks to his superb senses Kakashi always knew which females were compatible to his bloodline, that alone had made Kakashi pay more than the normal amount of attention to Shiori but in the last month he had come to the conclusion that it was more than just physical attraction. After all there had been some women, even kunoichi before that had the same compatible level like Shiori.  
This little black haired civilian and to a lesser extent her staff had a way of putting him at ease, especially after taxing missions for ANBU. Quite a lot of his black ops colleagues had followed his example when he had started to frequent Mariko's tea house and it had paid off. Kakashi chuckled inwardly somewhat darkly amused about the irony, the number of the operatives that suffered a break down had gone slightly down and general moral had went up after the operatives were actively encouraged to use Shiori's establishment, a civilian owned tea house with civilian servers.

During his more or less regular visits Kakashi had noticed that Shiori was more and more rarely in the tea house. Curious the silver haired Jounin had used his senses to track her down one day and found her house. Her home reflected her personality, it looked warm and inviting and Kakashi had since then developed a bit of a bad habit.  
After especially harrowing missions he liked to hide in the trees close to Inoue-san's home and watch her while she worked in the garden and around the house.  
Hatake Kakashi had been reduced to an ordinary stalker.

This bad habit reached its peak when he lost his last bit of his concentration and chakra control after an especially taxing mission and fell out of the tree and right into the middle of Shiori's back yard.

He didn't remember a lot of the details from then on but what he recalled was a distinct familiar chakra presence moving him somewhere enclosed before the presence vanished and returned after some time with a more intense chakra signature. As soon as the familiar chakra signature had left the room again Kakashi's body had tensed to defend himself unconsciously. Only when he recognized the standard Konoha medic nin chakra sequence he relaxed slightly while his most basic defense reflexes were still hyper alert. Kakashi kept careful watch on the foreign chakra that worked inside him and repaired his bruised organs and cracked bones before it checked over his own painfully empty chakra reserves and started to coax them into recovering faster.

Kakashi distinctly remembered the medic saying, "Hatake-san it is obvious that you feel save here for some reason, so I won't have you moved to the hospital but you need at least forty eight hours to recover from the chakra exhaustion. Please go to sleep soon." and with that the medic nin left the room.

The chakra signature that felt so familiar seemed to have a short discussion with the medic before the male finally left the house and then the silver haired shinobi's sensing range, only then Kakashi allowed himself to fall into deep unconsciousness.  
The next time he awoke was to the slowly moving around of the familiar chakra signature. It took Kakashi a while to move even the fingers of his hand, let alone sit up, when the chakra signature from before peeked into the room. The exhausted shinobi instantly recognized Inoue Shiori who looked concerned and slightly disapproving of the fact that he tried to move. The silver haired Jounin was weak as a kitten at the moment and felt more than slightly uncomfortable which Inoue-san seemed to pick up on instantly, just like always. Kakashi had to smile inwardly, even here in her own home she tried to make him as comfortable as possible. When she turned her back to him while she helped him drinking he marveled over the easy trust she showed him, even the most obvious civilians were wary of ninja in their personal space and Inoue-san wasn't stupid, far from it. This quiet show of trust was probably also what helped to convince him to take the chakra supplements the medic had left for him before he fell unconscious once again.

Kakashi couldn't tell how much time had gone by since he had fallen asleep once more but when he awoke again Inoue-san had left a glass of water beside his bed once more along with some of her desserts. The pretty female coaxed him into eating with unbelievingly patience always conscious of his pride and feelings, this time she hadn't even left the room before he fell asleep once more. When Kakashi awoke for the third time it was already dark outside but he could see the light of other rooms from across the courtyard.  
The last Hatake had been debating if it would be worth it to get up and search the kitchen for food, as hungry as he was he didn't like the thought of being a burden to Inoue-san; when said woman peeked into the room and noticed him awake. Five minutes later she moved plate upon plate of delicious smelling food into his room before returning to the other side of the house and leaving him to eat the delicious dishes at his leisure and in privacy.

On the morning after Kakashi had felt a lot better and was testing if his feet could carry him back to his own flat when Inoue-san caught him red handed. She clearly wasn't very happy with his attempts to move around and her disappointment alone sent him back to bed, inwardly he was screaming at himself for letting himself be manipulated like that by a civilian woman.  
Kakashi spent most of the day sleeping once more and his waking hours were used to stuff himself full with calories that she readily supplied. Another highlight was the shower that he finally was able to take after two weeks of spending in the woods. When he was finished with it and had worked himself arduously into the spare clothes he had sealed away in a scroll, the silver haired Jounin more stumbled than walked where his nose was telling him was the kitchen.  
Just as Kakashi had thought, the house suited the petite civilian, it was warm and homey and from the smell of it, she had only moved in a few months ago. Walking around had cost Kakashi quite a bit energy and he could see and smell the worry Shiori was emitting while she took in his form. He was surprised when she didn't move from her place in the kitchen until he had reached the sitting area in the middle of the room, but as soon as he was seated she had reached him and spread a blanket over him before she returned to the food. Kakashi was unsure why he enjoyed this subtle kind of fussing from her when he absolutely hated it when anyone else did it but her presence soothed his shinobi instincts and helped him to revert somewhat from the mission alertness, so he didn't try to analyze his reactions too much right now.  
The next day Kakashi left, he told himself that he didn't want to be a burden any further while deep down in his unconsciousness he knew that if he stayed longer he wouldn't want to leave this soothing place and her comforting presence.

Well let's just say trying to forget Shiori didn't work, from then on his subconsciousness had readily worked against his own decision to leave the civilian alone and he noticed her everywhere. To appease his damn shinobi instincts that were only enhanced through the Hatake canine bloodline, he sought her company a bit more actively and ensnared her in conversations that left her blushing and smiling whenever he could, he couldn't deny that his ego was soaring at those times.  
Because he was now openly seeking Shiori out he tried to quit his stalking habits to minimize the contact, but his body moved subconsciously to the tune of his instincts and with his mind preoccupied with thinking through the reasons why this was a bad idea, Shiori finally noticed that something was off and began to actively seek high populated areas.  
At that moment Kakashi had accepted defeat and decided to do something about his blatant attraction. When his stalking was noticed by his civilian target the silver haired Jounin knew that his was in deep trouble.

Ripped out of his musings Kakashi absentmindedly put both of them under a minimal genjutsu before they left for the restaurant he had chosen. The subtle genjutsu would change their appearance to anyone but the highest Jounin and genjutsu specialists and Kakashi had specifically selected a restaurant that was popular with a mostly civilian clientele even if the proximity of the other customers and obstructed exits would make him hyperaware and unlikely to relax.  
The pair spent a surprisingly nice evening together even though the date had started out slightly awkward on both sides, especially after Kakashi removed his mask before they entered the restaurant and Shiori got an eyeful of his face.

The black haired woman had blushed bright red, Kakashi wasn't a complete pretty boy, but he had distinct features that attracted attention from the females around them on every turn. The silver haired Jounin had a slightly crooked nose and tiny scars all over his face but this just made him even more handsome in Shiori's opinion and his tiny, slightly crooked smile had made her heart jump into her throat.

Kakashi had been positively surprised about how much he had enjoyed Shiori's company and the date. He had never really seen what the rage was about dates but he could come to like them in moderation if they went all like this one. After dinner Kakashi had escorted her back home and after some mental debate decided against kissing her, instead he had just moved the strands that had fallen into her face out of the way and asked for another date to which Shiori instantly agreed much to Kakashi's pleasure.

The next time he took her out on a picnic with food from a few good local takeaways. Shiori who had started to feel more secure in her knowledge about Hatake Kakashi, had teased him right back when he had prodded her slightly during lunch, the mood between the two had been generally a lot more playful than at their first date.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

When Kakashi had still not kissed her during their third date Shiori began to worry, was she doing something wrong? Or was it just the pace of the civilian dates in this world? Shiori had no idea, the only comparison she had were Eliza's dates in another world.

Gathering up her courage Shiori suggested as their fourth date another picnic, but this time she would cook. Shiori spent the day before it preparing the desserts with special care before she placed them neatly in the two Bento boxes and kept them in the fridge. The next day she already started to prepare the different dishes at eight in the morning, they had agreed to meet at two o'clock. Beside some tea and water she also packed a bottle of sake for Kakashi into her basket.

Kakashi arrived on the dot and shunshined them to a remote place up in a giant tree close to the Hokage monument, the view was stunning. They sat on one of the massive branches that could have easily seated four people side by side. Their conversation had turned during the last date to politics and Shiori listened closely while Kakashi explained the system in Fire country and how it involved Konoha. After Kakashi had ended with his explanation about the duties of the court of the Fire Daimyo, Shiori opened the Bentos and presented them to Kakashi who grinned and complemented her on her cooking skills.

They were half way through the meal when Shiori finally pulled herself together and asked Kakashi slightly blushing, "Kakashi-san, why haven't you initiated more physical contact. I mean I really like our dates but I was wondering if I did something wrong." at the last part Shiori looked at her lap, she was unable to face the shinobi in front of her.

"Shiori-chan, look at me." Shiori looked reluctantly up at him her hands were still fidgeting, "This is my first serious relationship with a civilian. I like you, I like you a lot and I know that you have never been in a relationship before physical or otherwise, so I didn't want to push you." the shinobi explained in a serious but gentle voice.

Shiori was speechless for a second before she smiled gently up at Kakashi and blushed again, "I like you too Kakashi-san. Thank you for your consideration but I wouldn't mind if you kissed me,… concerning the rest,…" at this Shiori blushed bright red in her embarrassment, "I will probably need some time."

Kakashi nodded and gave her a lopsided smile before he sat down his chopsticks and leaned closer to Shiori. Said black haired civilian too let her own chopsticks sink, her heart picked up speed and she relaxed when Kakashi came to sit beside her. He put his left hand slightly behind Shiori to take his weight while his other hand wandered to her face and gently but firmly moved her closer to him.  
Their lips met in a first tentative brush of lips, Kakashi then tilted Shiori's face a bit and pressed his lips a bit more firmly against hers before he opened his mouth a tiny bit and started to tease her neither lip. Shiori sighed into his actions and moved closer, her hands wandering up his arms and one settled at the base of his neck while the other wandered down a bit and stopped on his side. In return Kakashi's other hand removed itself from the branch and encircled Shiori's waist. With an a bit more insistent tug, he moved the female into his lap. After a moment of realization Shiori mentally shrugged with her shoulders and tilted her head up once more in a clear offer in Kakashi's direction.

Said Jounin was amused by the clearly eager behavior of his little lover, or well hopefully soon lover. He refused to call Shiori his girlfriend, it reminded him too much of his fangirls and the other typical civilian women with which his colleagues tended to go out.  
The complaints and moans of his fellow comrades about how much more effort these women took had been the reason why Kakashi had never even considered the idea to start a relationship with a civilian before. According to his fellow shinobi they wanted to be romanced all the time, expected presents regularly and moaned over the fact that their shinobi boyfriends had next to no time and couldn't talk about their job.  
Kakashi looked down at the flushed face of Shiori who smiled up at him, either his comrades had been exaggerating horribly or Shiori was one of the few exceptions,… it was probably a bit of both.

After finishing lunch the two sat a while longer side by side while they watched the village below them, because Kakashi had the early evening shift he returned Shiori to her home some time before four and this time kissed her stupid on her front porch, her flushed face and heady scent had been well worth the wait Kakashi decided smugly.

Before he could leave, Shiori said somewhat breathlessly, "You know Kakashi-san, you don't need to take me out on a date every time you want to see me,... With the exception of Monday and Tuesday I will be home for the rest of the week, so please feel free to drop by whenever you have time."

The silver haired Jounin nodded before he slipped on his mask again, gave her a slight wave with his hand and then he vanished with a puff of smoke.

After the first two weeks together and getting to know each other better, Kakashi had taken Shiori aside one afternoon and had told her in a serious tone about the draw backs of being together with a high profile Jounin like him. After reaching a certain competency level enemies were inevitable and especially Jounin had a lot of enemies, who would more than readily use any connections or relationships as bargain chip against him.  
Shiori had listened to him and after he had ended describing the possibilities of what could happen as well as the precautions that he would want her to adhere if she wanted to pursue a relationship with him. He then also offered to break it off and let her go if this was too much for her in a suspiciously flat voice.

As a result Shiori had lightly hit him on the arm for thinking her to be so naïve. She then kindly explained to him that she had expected something like this already. After all even the civilians knew his name and some of his reputation so the black haired civilian had already anticipated that their relationship wouldn't be able to become public knowledge so that she couldn't be used as leverage against him.  
Kakashi had looked at her for a stunned moment before he had kissed her deeply, making Shiori moan involuntarily and gasp for air when he finally released her lips. The way his eye had darkened at her and he had growled deep in his throat had elicited a warm rush between her legs and a desperate whimper from the civilian, for which she was promptly kissed again, god but was the man in front of her hard to resist.

The next two months Kakashi showed up at least once a day when he was in the village and spent quite some time at her place, especially when it was time for dinner Shiori was more than grateful for his presence. She had come to dislike eating alone and without conversation since Kakashi had come into her life. The two fell into a comfortable routine and did the dishes together afterwards. Kakashi also helped with the heavy lifting around the house, for example he had taken care of the tree that had fallen into the back yard after a particular strong storm. It had taken him less than twenty minutes to reduce the massive tree to firewood and stack it neatly in the room beside the wood burner oven for the coming winter; it was now slowly getting colder in Konoha.

Kakashi and Shiori had also become a lot more physically active during these months of slowly getting to know each other and their quirks and habits, it reminded Shiori a lot of the few happy years of Eliza's marriage until everything had went downhill.  
Their physical attraction had finally cumulated in Kakashi taking Shiori's virginity only a week prior. Thanks to Kakashi's experience she didn't feel any pain just the slight unfamiliar feeling of being entered and a somewhat dull soreness on the next day that was easily ignored. To be honest Shiori didn't feel any different than before the event, well okay that was not completely true. She had now the urge to do it again and again and Kakashi certainly indulged her new appetite.  
They had discussed the possibilities of an accidental pregnancy beforehand and had decided to use both the jutsu for shinobi and the civilian contraception pills, just to be on the safe side. After all ninja were proven to be crazy fertile after a certain level of chakra mastery.

For that particular evening Shiori was cooking especially rich dishes, Kakashi had been sent on a mission two days prior and he had told her to expect him back sometime late this afternoon or tomorrow morning.  
Shiori was just putting the finishing touches on the dishes when she heard the front door opening. She had given Kakashi a key shortly after they had been together for a month so that he could enter at any time even when she wasn't there, later she had found out that it was more of a gesture to Kakashi because he could have entered without the key.  
Shiori's lips turned upwards listening of the nearly silent noises and thinking about this odd timing her boyfriend seemed to have that he always arrived shortly before she was finished with cooking. While turning to the door Shiori opened her mouth to greet him when she saw the blank look on his face and the blood on his ANBU uniform.

The black haired woman stilled for a short moment before putting the food away from the hot plates and onto the stone work area to cool down before she silently made her way to Kakashi in silent trepidation. She took careful note of the bled through bandages and partially destroyed uniform before she reached out one small hand and touched him on his shoulder. After Kakashi hadn't reacted negatively the black haired woman led him into the bath by the staircase.  
There she grabbed a towel and wetted it somewhat with warm water, Shiori moved it with gentle motions over Kakashi's visible face to clean off the dried blood spatters somewhat before she helped him to remove his uniform and sandals.  
He still hadn't said a word but he also hadn't rejected her help which took Shiori as enough encouragement. As gently as possible the civilian woman removed the bled through bandages and took a look at the wounds. She was thankful at that moment that she never had been squeamish and that the copper scent in the air didn't bother her that much. Most of the injuries were shallow stab wounds that were still weeping somewhat but it didn't look as if any of it needed immediate attention of a medic to her relief.  
Kakashi's continued passiveness worried the civilian incredibly but while her thoughts raced around in her head her actions and movements gained confidence until she had her lover stripped down to his boxers and she sent him up into the master bedroom to take a shower. Shiori winced openly when the Jounin just nodded and made his way up to the second floor. Kakashi's mind must really be in a bad condition if he didn't even take some of his weapons with him and left her with his uniform alone, he had never done this before.  
Shiori put said uniform, arm and leg protectors along with the discarded weapons in a clothes basket and briskly walked into the cellar where she put the uniform sans scrolls and weapons into the washing machine before she scrubbed the blood and dirt from Kakashi's protective gear and forehead protector. The weapons and scrolls were left alone in the clothes basket for Kakashi to check over on the next day. Her lover had cautioned her against touching his weapons because while he didn't use poison often, it did happen and even the slightest nick could be dangerous for her. Shiori put the scrubbed protective gear and the headband beside the slowly burning oven and put another two big wood blocks into the fire. Since last week she had started to use the central heating because the weather had gotten even colder and they were now expecting snow this year for the first time in fifteen years according to Emiko-san.


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

After finishing with sorting out Kakashi' gear somewhat, Shiori walked into the kitchen once more and hastily checked if she had left anything burning before she followed Kakashi up into the master bedroom.

There she took the sleeping pants Kakashi always used from under his pillow and removed the first aid kit from under the bed. She had bought it not long after getting together with the silver haired Jounin and since then had bought quite a few additions and regularly stocked up on bandages, generic antidotes and salves.

Kakashi had insisted on taking over some of the household expenses for her after he realized how much money he was saving thanks to eating at her place most of the time. They, after some light arguing, had finally agreed that half of the money Kakashi was saving each month from not having to buy take out would contribute to Shiori's expenses. The groceries, which were bought in bulk at the market, were of course much cheaper than the food at the restaurants, even taking account for the increased amount thanks to Kakashi's high Jounin metabolism and so there was some money left over each month.  
Shiori used this to buy the first aid kits that she distributed around the house, depending if she had to stock up further first aid supplies in the respective month, she used the remaining portion to partly for the electricity bill.  
Kakashi had still felt uneasy about the, for him comparatively small sum, and so Shiori had, to put him at ease collected the numbers she spent for some weeks before listening them off and showing Kakashi the balance. The sheet helped the stubborn silver haired Jounin to accept that he really didn't mooch off on her and so he had finally acquiesced and left the topic alone.

A side effect of showing him her skills with money was that after some careful and probably paranoid considerations on his part he gave her an estimate of the costs of a high Jounin, the pay that he received as well as his fixed expenses. It took Shiori some time to also figure in potential down time if he was injured or if there was a decrease in high ranked missions but in the end she could give him some tips that would help him keep track of his expenses more thoroughly and plan for other eventualities.

During one of their conversations even the topic of investments had crept up, to which Kakashi just shrugged his shoulders, he had put all of the money he saved into a savings account and that was that.  
Shiori, having the memories of Eliza who had lived in a world in which investing and playing with the stock market were somewhat of a national sport for those who could afford it, was aghast. Kakashi was under the top earners in Konoha and his money was only collecting a small percentage of interest in his saving account.  
As a response she had put together her own 'safe' investments distributed all over Fire country and had plainly handed over the list of businesses in which he could invest without ever shining up as part owner. Throughout lunch she had then given him a short overview about the business side of the Fire country and the do's and don'ts she had learned about since becoming Inoue-san's housekeeper and later heir. To be honest Shiori quite liked that the roles of who was teaching whom were reversed for a change.  
During that afternoon Kakashi showed her for the first time his prodigy side, he had picked up everything lightning fast and was hours later already implementing what he had learned on that day and thinking at least five steps ahead. He had done as she had advised him and invested in different companies and handing over the complete legal jargon to a lawyer, in this case Atsuka-san who was her own lawyer.  
A few weeks later Shiori also learned about the draw backs of a prodigy, Kakashi had picked up everything so easily and fast that he was now bored with the whole concept and just turned to other things that were more interesting. Shiori was horrified when she realized what was going on; she knew that financial matters could go spectacular wrong if left alone too long. You never ever NOT check your investments and search for better deals or jump off if you think it becomes too dangerous to keep this or that share. Thankfully she could convince the silver haired Jounin to at least give Atsuka-san authority to pull out of investments and sell shares if he felt that they were not profitable anymore and the shinobi was out of the village.  
Bullet dodged.

Coming out of her memories Shiori walked into the bath of the master bedroom. Entering the humid room her eyes landed on the motionless form of the silver haired Jounin in the shower. Kakashi was just standing there under the hot water jet, leaning slightly against the tiles and staring at nothing. Now getting really concerned the black haired civilian removed her own clothes and opened the shower before slipping in. Shiori paused for a moment to wait for Kakashi to acknowledge her, after she was sure the shinobi had noticed her she stepped closer and her gaze trailed down his form. He hadn't washed his hair or body yet and just stood motionless under the water. This was the worst state she had seen Kakashi in since they had met.  
Taking initiative she carefully touched his pectorals and gliding from his chest to other body parts, Shiori could feel the powerful muscles under her tensing and relaxing, she kept this light contact up before she reached for the shampoo and washed his hair and body without a word. The blue eyed civilian took extra care to not further irritate his partly open wound before cleaning of the last of the soap suds.  
She then led Kakashi out of the shower where she hastily wrapped a towel around her body and then toweled his still nearly unresponsive form off before making him sit down on the chair beside the sink. Shiori had moved it into the bathroom for the sole purpose of serving as an easy seating for Kakashi after more strenuous missions and was silently congratulating herself for the idea before opening the first aid kit.

In the last two months Shiori had taken classes at the hospital about first aid and dressing wounds. The black haired civilian had seen Kakashi's stubbornness concerning the hospital first hand only a week after they first started dating and so had been sure that she would need that knowledge sooner or later. In her mind she was now thanking every deity that she hadn't delayed the course for some time later in their relationship.  
Shiori cleaned Kakashi's injuries up the best she could and after that she cajoled the nearly puppet like shinobi into his sleeping pants and took him to bed.

The blue eyed woman held him the whole night, only napping herself while watching over his fitful sleep and the nearly constant nightmares. She had taken more than once a, for a civilian, forceful blow to her body but refused to let go out of principle. Kakashi needed the human contact and care at that moment and she was determined to give it to him.

When she awoke on the next morning it was to an empty bed, Kakashi was already up.  
Shiori made her way down into the kitchen and on her way she noticed that the whole house was warm unlike she had feared the night before. Kakashi must have put some more wood into the fire early on that day. The tea house owner's lover sat on one of the breakfast bar chairs and was digging into the food she had prepared the day before. He seemed to be concentrating on the food in front of him but Shiori was certain that he had probably known the moment she got out of bed. When the seventeen year old started to cross the room Kakashi glanced up and attempted a smile that was more of a grimace and didn't quite reach his eyes. Shiori came to a halt slightly beside and behind her Jounin and kissed him tenderly on the cheek before her arms encased him for a moment and then she joined him in eating leftovers for breakfast.

After cleaning up behind themselves the two sat down on the couch with their respective books for the day. Since spending more time in her home Kakashi had taken to her library like a fish to water and had started to buy books that he thought would make good additions to it. Funnily enough most of it wasn't porn, although she now also had quite the collection of said erotica hidden on the highest corner shelf under, what she suspected was a light Genjutsu with the way her eyes normally glided over this part of the shelf.

Not even ten minutes into reading Kakashi let the book sink into his lap and he looked somewhat forlorn out of the window while he said, "I'm sorry that you had to see this."

Shiori put her own book aside with a sigh before she turned completely to Kakashi and made him look into her eyes. At this moment she HATED the way his face became so carefully blank even without a mask. Yesterday night had strengthened her resolve in telling him about her feelings, Shiori would make damn sure that he knew it and had no chance of pulling away from her.

"I love you, Hatake Kakashi." Shiori said while she took his hands into hers, "I love you and seeing you like this changes nothing."

Kakashi's visible eye had become slightly bigger before it softened and he squeezed Shiori's smaller hands in his own callused ones, "Still I should have not come to you with this baggage." the Jounin kept insisting.

Shiori snorted, "Don't be absurd, I may have no idea what happened during this mission or any of your other missions past and future but there is something that you should know. You are not alone Kakashi. I love you, do you understand me. You are the best thing that has happened to me in my life and I will support you in any way you need." the last part Shiori said while she leaned into his form and hugged him.

"You love me?" Kakashi asked incredulous and in a voice that was too close to breaking for Shiori's comfort.

She moved Kakashi a bit down the sofa and with gently guiding hands she placed his head above her heart while she soothingly combed through his hair, "Yes you pig headed man, somehow I have fallen for you and there is nothing that could change that."

Kakashi just murmured disbelieving as an answer before he closed his eyes and lost himself in her scent, he didn't pick up any irregularities,… she was telling the truth,… he couldn't wrap his head around this. This impossible intent and warm woman wanted him. The silver haired shinobi had tried to not get invested too much during the last few months but it had proven to be futile. Shiori was too genuine, too warm, too delicious to resist.

The way his life had changed so easily in the last few months was nearly frightening to the Jounin. Kakashi had made unconsciously room in his heart for the black haired nymph while she let him into her life and house. Not that everything had run completely smoothly, no. There had been arguments between them but they were easily dissolved and not worth mentioning, the two just suited each other well.  
To be honest Kakashi had been waiting for the other shoe to drop. Nothing good in his life had ever lasted for long and until now he had taken this fact for granted but Shiori here in his arms made him want to fight the odds; she was worth the fight of that he was sure. Having made his decision Kakashi decided to risk it, what he was going to do now had the potential to completely destroy him if it went bad but for once he wouldn't be a coward concerning emotional attachment.

So he lifted his head to stare at the beautiful woman he was using as a pillow, "Shiori, I think I love you too."

His confession was somewhat unsure and lost but the words and the way he hesitantly traced a path down her neck brought tears to Shiori's eyes.

As an answer Shiori just hugged him closer while she closed her eyes, "I'm glad."


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

Four months into their relationship Kakashi introduced his nin dogs to Shiori. He had been inwardly debating this for quite some time now and felt that it was the right moment. Pakkun and his other partners were pack, his family and he wanted them to meet and approve of Shiori. With that decision made Kakashi summoned the whole pack in the back yard.

"Yo Kakashi, what do you need?" Pakkun asked slightly bored after tensing for a second and then relaxing.

Their summoner didn't smell panicked or injured, well maybe somewhat nervous but Pakkun didn't pick up any threats around them so this would probably be a training or a tracking lesson or something equal mundane.

"Hey guys,... I want to introduce you to someone." Kakashi said.

The summons perked up their human partner's scent changed to a pleasant smell, whoever they were meeting was pretty important to their Alpha, so everyone of the pack perked up and paid attention to Kakashi.

"Come on." Kakashi said while he led them into the house.

Too late the silver haired Jounin realized that he didn't know if Shiori would have problems with his summons in her home. Well it was a little too late now.

Bisuke sniffed deeply before he tilted his head and voiced was all the dogs were wondering, "Kakashi? Do you finally have a mate?"

Kakashi just nodded without saying anything before he walked through the house into the living room. There Shiori was laying on her stomach on the couch with a book in her hand and a cup of tea on the side.

"Kakashi? Welcome back." Kakashi's lover said warmly before she got up from her comfortable position on the couch to come closer.

Rounding the couch eyes fell on the nin dog pack and she got a good look at Kakashi's summons, her blue eyes traced the dogs before she looked slightly confused at Kakashi, "Who are they?"

"We are Kakashi's ninken, nice to meet you." Pakkun spoke calmly while he sat down in front of the, clearly civilian woman.

Shiori's eyes nearly popped out before she giggled, Pakkun's voice was even deeper than she had imagined and then the blue eyed woman sat down on the floor in front of the eight dogs, "Hello it's nice to meet you. I'm Inoue Shiori."

"Hello Shiori, It's nice to meet you too. I'm Pakkun, the big guy is Bull, scruffy on my left is Urushi, then the one with the mohawk is Shiba followed by Bisuke, Guruko, Uhei and glasses is Akino." Pakkun introduced the pack.

"So you are partnered with Kakashi? He must be a pain to work with." Shiori said mischievously while she grinned teasingly up at the shinobi standing only two steps away from her.

"Hey." Kakashi pouted childishly.

"Ain't that the truth." Akino sighed.

"HEY." Kakashi said louder and looked like he was sulking.

Shiori laughed and pulled her lover down to kiss him briefly, "Aw, don't worry Kakashi I still love you." before she turned her attention back to the ninken in front of her, "Can I pet you guys?"

"Sure." Pakkun grinned happily while he rolled up beside her left thigh, they never passed up a good pet, especially not by someone who smelled so genuine and warm.

Shiori blinked and she was suddenly surrounded by dogs that searched for a place close to her. Curious the black haired woman started to stroke through their different furs and scratched behind ears. The summons let loose content sighs while they enjoyed Shiori's attention.  
Shiori looked up smiling at Kakashi and noticed his clearly staged pout and warm eyes on her, her soft laugher didn't help Kakashi's slightly sulking mood.

Shiori could hear him mutter, "If I hadn't introduced you guys to her she would give this attention to me now."

"Aw Kakashi, are you jealous of your ninken? Don't be. Are you hungry? There is some fresh sushi in the fridge,... Do you guys also want to eat something? I'm not sure what to give you?" Shiori said still amused.

"No thanks we are good." Bisuke answered while he rubbed his head against Shiori's thigh.

Pakkun grunted beside him and then mumbled sleepy, "As long as it's not chocolate, that's poison to us."

"I will bring some of the ninken food over later." Kakashi said while he sat down on the breakfast bar and watched contently how Shiori stretched out completely on the wooden floor and the ninken surrounded her and took in her scent.

That they had settled around her so fast and let themselves being petted by her was more than a good sign. Ninken were extremely sensitive to people with bad intentions or dishonesty and them liking Shiori just confirmed that he had made the right decision concerning her.  
When on the next day a row of dog bowls was beside breakfast bar, Kakashi asked himself how he had gotten so damn lucky to find this unique gem of a civilian woman in Konoha. These thoughts were only strengthened through the next months. She was always there when he needed her, either as stress relief during vigorous sex when he had too much adrenaline pumping through his body after a mission or just to hold him while he recovered from the psychological trauma that was inflicted on him almost regularly thanks to his ANBU career.

When Kakashi asked her one day while they were lying in bed and recovering from their most recent round of sex, why she didn't say anything or tried to convince him to stop going on dangerous missions like other civilian girlfriends, his lover had just laughed and asked him amused and slightly tired if he wanted her to interfere with his job? Before he could answer she continued and said that she certainly would tell him off if he tried to tell her how to run her tea house. Shiori then became a bit more serious and softly stroked his face and traced his scars before she said.

"Kakashi, I have every confidence in you that you will come back to me or will try your very best at least. Since opening the tea house I have noticed that being a shinobi is so much more than just a job. So you will have to decide for yourself when it is time to quit those dangerous missions." Shiori explained while she kissed Kakashi's temple and then rolled back onto her back.

He felt her small hand grabbing his bigger and rougher one before the silver haired Hatake could feel her whole body relaxing beside him. Kakashi caught himself smiling slightly at her behavior and the easy trust she showed him before he rolled over Shiori once more and made love to her.  
The sex this time had been long, languid and deep and in the end Shiori had been crying in relief when her lover finally allowed her to orgasm. The black haired civilian fell asleep in his arms relatively quickly after that, Kakashi on the other hand lay awake for quite some time while he listened to Shiori sleep sounds and the storm outside and contemplated what she had told him.

The following day Kakashi stopped pretending that he was living in his flat and moved most of his clothes into Shiori's closet. He only had enough things left in his apartment to keep up appearances, his fridge was now permanently empty and most of his weapons had also wandered into Shiori's house.

For that specifically Kakashi had changed one of the empty rooms in the cellar into a weapon storage room with Shiori's permission and he had also started to hide weapons around the first floor and in their bedroom.  
When Shiori had caught him for the first time doing this she had stood still for a second and then just raised her eyebrow before she just rolled her eyes and told him that he could make permanent weapon caches around the house if he wanted. She also proceeded to show him the few still existing caches and disengaged traps the Chunin squad and Shiori had found during their search and her move in.

After finding out that this was a former ninja clan house, a slightly concerned Kakashi went over all the rooms with a fine comb and found not only plenty of existing stashes and a few still armed traps but also a hidden room and tunnel under the house.

When he showed Shiori the hidden jutsu library and escape tunnel her eyes had started to shine like a little girl's at her birthday party and promptly wandered between the shelves to throw curious glances at the dusty scrolls in various sizes and the open entrance leading into pitch black darkness.

Kakashi's black haired lover had then given him permission to go through the library and learn whatever he found useful from it. Shiori also brought down the scrolls from the attic her Jounin benefactor had kept in her flat before her death, especially the A-ranked Fire technique in one of Inoue-san's scrolls caught the silver haired Jounin's attention while he checked them over.

It had taken Kakashi about a week to get a good overview of the jutsu library and what he found impressed him. The library was more than thorough until about twenty years ago when apparently nobody was left to update it. Even the room itself was impressive, whoever made it knew what he or she was doing, the seals place around the walls were sturdy and triple reinforced and would probably survive a bomb right on top of the building. When he told Shiori that, the black haired woman couldn't stop laughing hysterically for a moment. The confused shinobi had dismissed her strange reaction after some time, women reacted to the strangest things sometimes.

While Kakashi sorted through the scrolls and detrapped the shelves and made notes which parts would need to be replaced, Shiori joined him and got rid of the layer of dust and cleared the stone floor. They were nearly finished with the room when Kakashi somewhat reluctantly brought up moving his own family jutsus and records in here for the better protection. As an answer Shiori just smiled at him, kissed him and told him that as far as she was concerned this had been his home as much as hers since the moment he had started to add books to the library, paid a part of the bills and left clothes in their closet.

Shiori probably had no idea what this simple sentence would do to him because she squeaked surprised when in the next moment she lay flat on the freshly cleaned table in the middle of the room and Kakashi took her right there in the sparingly lit room between the shelves of an old ninja library. Her desperate cries echoed from the walls and when Kakashi came he saw lights exploding behind his closed eyes and he couldn't move for the next few moments, his legs had become weak and unsteady. While the silver haired Jounin tried to regain control over his limps his weight was pressing down on Shiori, who didn't seem to mind the slightest bit and was just weakly stroking his hair.

"God." Shiori whispered out of breath her eyes were still somewhat vacant and a small smile was playing around her lips, "Is it just me or is the sex getting better and better with each time?"

Kakashi chuckled weakly while he carefully moved out of her and first helped to slip on her partly ripped panties and then secured his own pants once more, "Good to know but you are right, this was probably one of the most intense orgasms I ever had."

"Ugh, I don't think I can move." Shiori confessed laughingly, her legs felt like lead in a very, very good way.

Her lover just grinned smugly at her before he put his arms around her, lifted her into his arms and carried her bridal style to the beginning of the hidden staircase before he shunshined them into their bedroom.

There he removed both their clothes once more and grinned mischievously down at her "Ready for round two?"

"Kakashi!" came the token protest of the giggling woman underneath him, she LOVED his shinobi stamina.


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

The days and weeks after Kakashi officially moved in flew by and suddenly it was the morning of Shiori's eighteenth birthday.

"Happy Birthday Shiori-chan." Kakashi whispered in her ear while he moved a tray to his side of the bed.

Tired Shiori rubbed her eyes before her eyes landed on the food in her boyfriend's hands, "Breakfast in bed? You shouldn't have." she said but the happy smile negated her sentence.

Kakashi smirked before he kissed her and handed her the first dish. After finishing with eating Kakashi brought the dirty dishes down into the kitchen and cleaned up while Shiori put some clothes on and did her morning absolutions before joining him in the living room.

"So what do you want to do today?" Kakashi asked curiously after he put the last dishes away, he had some plans already but this was Shiori's day and he wanted her to do what she wanted.

"Hhm let's just enjoy the day, maybe have a picnic? Nothing too fancy, I just want to relax and spend the day with you." Shiori smiled happily while she burrowed herself into his pectorals and breathed in his addicting scent.

Kakashi had extra arranged to be off duty today and the black haired woman would take advantage of this time to monopolize Kakashi's attention as much as possible. In the last few months Kakashi's mission ratio had subtly but steadily increased and she was anxious about the fact that it was taking it's toll on Kakashi's body and soul. He was often tired and mentally exhausted in the evenings and Shiori barely dared to suggest anything but curling up together on the couch and reading. If the missions didn't decrease sometime soon, Shiori was afraid that the silver haired Jounin would burn himself out and that terrified her more than anything else.  
Kakashi was her lover, the person dearest to her in this new life, not just the charming character she had had a crush on in the beginning. His problems and reactions were real and painfully human, and Shiori was well aware that humans could break if pressured too much.

Kakashi's deep chuckles brought Shiori out of her worried musings and she turned her concentration back on the man before her. The shinobi tugged lightly on one of her side bangs and kissed her forehead before he took her hand into his and led the civilian into the back yard where one of his gifts waited.

The black haired woman on his side gasped and looked disbelieving at her back yard. There was suddenly a small stream flowing between some of the trees and a small wooden bridge led to the other side of the stream where a traditional tea house stood.

"B-but how?" Shiori was completely flabbergasted as she inspected the change in the landscape that had happened overnight.

"I used some of my ninjutsu skills to make this small artificial stream bed and connected it with the small river that flows at the back of your property; don't worry I made sure that there isn't a chance of an accidently flooding of the house. To the rest,… let just say that a friend of mine owed me a favor." Kakashi said while he watched Shiori's expression.

"Thank you, Kakashi. I don't know what to say, I mentioned this once to you and that in passing. This was a childhood dream of mine but I had given it up because the clan house was already so perfect, and now I also have my own tea house at a stream. Thank you." Shiori was close to tears and was scolding herself for being so over emotional.

The tea house on a stream or river had been one of the fantasies when she still lived in Kawa. During one of the few times she left the tiny village she had seen it in the garden of a minor noble clan that lived not far away from her home. A fire had destroyed a part of the outer wall and some of the buildings and people had been drafted from all over the region to repair it. Her own mother was cooking for the workers while her father was helping out, Shiori couldn't have been older than six at the time and had admired the small wooden house in the back of the beautiful garden that looked so peaceful. She had later asked her grandmother to explain the function of the house to her and a lot of hours had been spent daydreaming about it from then on.

Shiori came back to reality and smiled up at her lover, the careful planning and consideration he had put into her birthday present told her more than anything else how much Kakashi cared for her.

"Hey, hey no reason to cry sweetheart." the silver haired Jounin said in a warm voice while he gently wiped the lone tear away that rolled down Shiori's cheek.

The shinobi was glad that this part of Shiori's birthday had gone off without a hitch, now he only had to scrape together his courage for that evening.

The rest of the day the two spent in the woods behind her house, on her back porch and the courtyard where they enjoyed the perfect weather of the day.  
Shortly before dinner time Kakashi shunshined them to the tree they had spent their fourth date at, up on their branch was a candlelight dinner waiting, complete with already burning candles.

"Kakashi, how did you manage that?" Shiori asked confused.

The Jounin just chuckled before he whispered, "Kage Bunshin." into her ear, which predictably made Shiori flush and fan herself with her hand.

When Kakashi felt particular kinky it could happen that Shiori found herself at the mercy of two or more Kakashis. He had used that particular technique just the night before and the memories were still vividly in Shiori's mind. Beside her Kakashi deeply inhaled her arousal before he put an arm around her waist and led her to her seat.

The next two hours were filled with stimulating conversation and smoldering gazes while they enjoyed their meal and flirted a bit around. Shiori was more than enjoying herself the couple hadn't been out for nearly a month now because of those increased ANBU missions and sitting there with Kakashi made her feel warm, safe and cherished. Shortly after finishing with the dessert Kakashi turned a bit somber and looked serious at Shiori, she visibly saw how he was trying to find the right words and inwardly she was beginning to panic, what was wrong?

"Shiori, I know this may seem fast for you, after all we haven't been together for even a year yet but I am a shinobi and I don't know if today or tomorrow is my last. So Shiori-chan, will you marry me?" at the last part Kakashi took out a dark blue satin box with a simple but beautiful diamond ring and placed it gently in front of the dark haired woman.

Shiori's eyes were wide and she was absolutely speechless, she open her mouth a few times to answer but nothing came out, so in the end she just nodded first tentatively then a lot more vigorously while some silent tears accompanying her acceptance.

"Shiori." Kakashi said gently while he walked around the table to his crying fiancée, "Thank you for agreeing to be my wife." he continued while he slipped the ring on her finger, it was a perfect fit.

"I love you Kakashi." Shiori sobbed while she held onto him like a lifeline still feeling slightly overwhelmed.

The black haired civilian had never expected Kakashi to want to marry her, let alone this quickly, wow they weren't even a year together and he already put a ring on her finger, talk about fast!  
During the weeks and months she had lived with him Shiori had learned there was a lot more to the man than the mangas had shown but that some things had been uncannily accurate about the last Hatake. His fear of permanent relationships and innate paranoia was one of them and had made the shinobi test her time and time again until the blue eyed civilian had come to grips with the fact that Kakashi would probably never be fully able to let his guard down, not to mention do something like making their relationship official, for this Shiori believed that Kakashi was too paranoid of somebody finding out about her. That he now contrary to her expectations asked her to marry him left Shiori reeling, she was confused but elated at the same time.

"Shiori-chan I am sorry that I can't give you the wedding that you deserve, but it would be too dangerous if somebody found out about you." Kakashi then said with honest regret in his voice.

"It doesn't matter to me if we marry right here and now or never at all, I just want to be with you." Shiori reassured him with a still teary smile.

What she said was the truth, the black haired civilian would have never stayed with Kakashi if she was as hung up on the topic marriage as the rest of the civilian women in this world seemed to be. Shiori's eyes widened slightly, maybe that was the reason why Kakashi had asked her, he was adhering to the civilian customs in Konoha. Now Shiori was concerned if she was forcing him into something he felt uncomfortable with just because of traditions, she fretted for a second before she snorted inwardly and called herself an idiot. This was Hatake Kakashi, he did NOTHING without a reason and he wouldn't let himself being pressured into a marriage just because it was norm.

"Then will you agree to marry me in a week at the Fire Shrine?" Kakashi continued slightly nonchalant.

Shiori's eyes went big, "The Fire shrine, as in the place where you have to reserve the date for at least five months prior?" her eyes went soft, "Kakashi,… how long have you been planning this?"

"Since the day you told me that you loved me." the silver haired Jounin answered truthfully.

Yes he knew he was a paranoid, possessive and calculating bastard, and yes he knew that Shiori had probably already noticed the wide range of psychological issues he had, but she hadn't run yet from him and so he would hold onto her with all his might and skill as manipulator if he had to.  
When Shiori confessed to him that she loved him and accepted him just like he was, Kakashi unconsciously started to make plans for a proposal even though the more cynical part of his mind tried to convince him that in the end Shiori would leave him, just as everybody else had done in his life.  
So it came that the day crept up on him when he suddenly had a ring and a free time slot at the Fire shrine, which was more luck then skill to be honest. The shinobi had just been fortunate that somebody had canceled two months ago when he had visited to just check if it was possible, Kakashi had then acted on instinct and just booked the open date before he could change his mind.

It was funny really, marriage had NEVER been one of his goals in life, the council had kept putting enough pressure onto him concerning that topic since he turned seventeen for it to become something to look forward to. Kakashi had of course refused soundly, a family was the last thing the young ANBU operative had needed at that time and he probably would have kept happily refusing until the day he died if he hadn't met Shiori.  
Now marriage was suddenly a convenient way to bind the petite black haired civilian to him for the rest of his life, if he was brutally honest. Because while divorce was legal in Fire Country it was used rarely and only in the most extreme cases and Kakashi had no intention to ever give Shiori a justified cause to leave him. As long as he could do something about it the blue eyed civilian would belong to him until Shinigami-sama took him away from her. And yes, he really was the possessive bastard that he sounded like.

Ripped out of his musings Kakashi saw Shiori laugh and shake her head in disbelieve before she agreed smilingly to his rather out of the blue proposal, "Yes Kakashi I will marry you in a week."

The confirmation brought a dark satisfaction with it, it was probably not fair to Shiori to be bound to somebody like him until the day he died but Kakashi was too selfish to let her go now that he had tasted some of the forbidden fruit.  
Without further ado Kakashi shunshined them back home where he showed Shiori his appreciation about the fact that she had agreed to marry him. Exhausted and soaked with sweat Shiori tried to catch her breath while Kakashi's breath was only a little bit faster and he had a pretty smug grin on his face. The Jounin nuzzled the neck of his fiancée while he slowly traced invisible patterns on her skin. The woman beside him sighed in content but was unable to move even one muscle.

"Shiori-chan?" Kakashi asked tentatively.

"Hhm?" the civilian answered tiredly, her eyes were already closed and she was basking in her afterglow.

"I'm getting out of ANBU with next month." the shinobi said airily while he kept touching his lover.

Said lover's eyes flew open and her mouth opened slightly, her eyes searched Kakashi's and when she saw the seriousness and warmth in them couldn't help but sob.

"…, Shiori-chan don't cry!" Kakashi said wide eyed, he wasn't used to her being so emotional.

"Idiot I'm not crying." Shiori tried to deny while she laughed and hiccupped and the tears continued to run down her face.

Her hands snaked out beside her body and she desperately searched for something to anchor herself on. Kakashi's own arms came around her and tugged her on top of his body, where she shook and silently cried while only single sobs escaped her mouth.  
Kakashi was getting out of ANBU,… that explained the increased missions and his tiredness, the black haired woman physically felt how the worry and anxiousness fell away from her body and snuggled closer to her finance.

"Me being in ANBU hurt you." Kakashi spoke his realization out loud while he helplessly tried to calm down his wife-to-be.

"…, No, that isn't it,... I saw what the missions did to you when they went bad. As I said it is your decision when you think you are ready to quit ANBU but yes I AM relieved that you won't be exposed to so much psychological trauma and danger anymore. You had me worried for the last few months, your workload seemed to only increase and you were always so tired." Shiori tried to explain.

"Shiori,..." Kakashi said regretfully.

He would still be sent out on dangerous missions and he was unsure how to tell her that. Well at least the stress of the last few months was easy to explain it was a result of him quitting the service, his superiors wanted as much missions completed as possible before he finally left the system.

"I know, I know, just because you are out of ANBU won't stop the dangerous missions but while that may be true it won't be just black ops missions." then Shiori bit her lip and looked into Kakashi's eyes, "Kakashi, I ALWAYS know when you had an assassination mission or lost a teammate, your eyes go dead for some time before you start to recover. Why do you think I never leave your vicinity during the first few days after you return from such a mission?"

Kakashi looked up at the woman lying on him unreadable, he opened his mouth a few times but no words came out, instead he pulled her closer and nibbled on her ear and saying, "You are MINE".

Shiori could only shiver at the possessive tone of her soon-to-be-husband before simply confirming his ownership with a smile and a pleased, "Yours.".


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

On the next day Kakashi sent Shiori with a small caravan to the village closest to the Fire shrine, were she should wait until her fiancé would arrive with their witnesses.

"Who is going to witness?" Shiori asked interested until now none of Kakashi's friends had been aware of her.

"Mah, probably Shiranui Genma and Maito Gai. Do you know them?" Kakashi answered easily and quite chipper.

"Yes from the tea house but say Kakashi, are they going to be aware of what they will be witnessing?" Shiori asked morbidly curious.

After being together with Kakashi for nearly a year she had a pretty good idea what he found funny, and springing something like this on his friends would be right up his ally.

"Hhm, mah they will find out early enough before our wedding. I will meet you three hours before the ceremony at the shrine, is that okay with you?" Kakashi asked still smiling.

"Yes that's fine, be careful?" Shiori asked suppressing a mischievous giggle, Kakashi could be pretty mean.

"Always." Kakashi answered before he kissed her one last time and then shunshined to his ANBU shift.

Shiori could just shake her head grinning; those poor men were in for quite a surprise. She then did one last walk through the house before she made her way to the meeting point of the merchant caravan. It would take them less than four hours to arrive at her destination and Shiori was already antsy, because as much as she loved Kakashi and wouldn't have minded marrying him right after he asked her, he had dropped this wedding in such a historical place on her with a week's notice and now she was in desperate need of an appropriate wedding kimono. Shiori sighed again, if she didn't love that man so much she would kill him for that pressure alone.

Both Genma and Gai weren't sure what to think of their location, Kakashi had tracked them down a few hours prior and had seriously asked them for a favor. Both of them had been instantly on guard, Kakashi was as good as never serious and asked even less for favors, so both had agreed willingly. Neither of them had any upcoming missions in the next week and so while they had looked at each other worried when Kakashi had told them they were going outside the village they hadn't voiced any protests.  
And now here they were, at the Fire Shrine of Konoha and Kakashi had predictably vanished into thin air.

Genma sighed, he loved Kakashi like a brother but his eccentrics were sometimes even too much for him, especially when he was dying of curiosity. The senbon wielder's musings were interrupted when he noticed a familiar figure walking closer to them.

"Inoue-san, what a pleasant surprise. May I ask what you are doing here? Giving thanks maybe?" Genma asked friendly.

Like many others of his colleagues he felt affectionate to the dark haired civilian who always took great care to fulfill even the most outlandish request. He hadn't expected to find Mariko's owner here but giving thanks for a good business year wasn't that rare under civilian merchants and business owners.

Shiori giggled slightly mischievous before she said nonchalantly, "Not quite, Shiranui-san. I am marrying today."

"WHAT?" the voices of the two Jounin vibrated through the corridor.

"Mah mah, keep it down will you." Kakashi said while he walked up to his friends and his fiancée.

"Kakashi, Inoue-san is marrying today!" Gai cried out.

"I know, after all it is me who she is marrying." Kakashi said dryly while he put his arm around her waist.

Shiori sent Kakashi a warm smiled while the two shinobi in front of them very busy gapping at them, before Gai broke into tears.

"Kakashi-san, my hip and cool rival, is it true? Are you and Inoue-san really sailing into the port of youthfulness that is matrimony?" Gai asked in his flowery speech.

The silver haired Jounin chuckled slightly before he simply nodded. Gai lost some of his exuberance while he took the couple in front of him in, then he nodded once in a solemn gesture into Kakashi's direction. His silver haired rival had just entrusted him with his greatest weak point, the knowledge about his girlfriend and soon to be wife, who was a defenseless civilian. Beside him Genma too realized the significance of this gesture, Hatake Kakashi had a lot of enemies and even more people wanted to have some kind of leverage over the copy ninja. So should the information about Shiori ever reach the wrong ears they wouldn't stop searching until they had found her. So for Kakashi to have chosen them to witness his marriage he had to trust into them and their skills to avoid capture and never talk about his biggest secret. Both Konoha Jounin were deeply honored by Kakashi's request and Genma even removed his senbon to congratulate the pair.

Shiori informed them that the time of the ceremony was still three hours off and that she would meet them at the entrance to the main hall shortly before then. After the civilian woman had left Genma and Gai rounded up on Kakashi.

"God damn, just god damn, Kakashi do you always have to spring such things at us. Marriage? Really? I never thought that you would be the first one of our circle." Genma shook his head while he watched his former ANBU captain like a hawk, before he tentatively continued, "She isn't pregnant is she?"

Kakashi's nonchalant mask turned into one of real amusement while he chuckling shook his head, "Genma, do you really think that I would get a woman, a civilian at that, unintentionally pregnant and then marry her out of guilt?"

"Right, stupid question." Genma said while he felt inwardly like hitting himself.

Kakashi was infamous in certain ANBU circles for his sexual exploits, he was one of the best honey trap shinobi Konoha had ever had. The silver haired Jounin had the seduction and contraception jutsus down to an art, there was no chance of an accidental pregnancy happening to him.  
If Kakashi hadn't been an equally skilled if not more so assassin, he would more than likely been stuck with those 'delicate' missions for life or the loss of his good looks.

"Hey wait, you didn't say if she was pregnant or not!" Genma blurted out after he had analyzed Kakashi's answer.

Kakashi just sighed and rolled his eyes, "No, Shiori-chan is not pregnant."

"So if you aren't marrying her because she is pregnant,… oh hell no,… Kakashi don't tell me,… you love her, god damn it, now I have seen it all." Genma whispered in disbelief, his brother in arms was in love with this woman, "B-but, she is a civilian!" Genma nearly whined, he had always thought that whoever caught Kakashi's eye one day would be strong, independent and a kunoichi.

Kakashi just shrugged his shoulders before he slumped against the nearest tree and looked up at the blue sky, "We just fit Genma, we have the same core values, similar tastes and I never had to hide my shinobi side from her."

Gai and Genma winced at that, this was the main problem in shinobi-civilian relationships, the civilians didn't understand that being shinobi wasn't just an occupation that you could tune out at the end of the day, it was a way of life.

"Are you really sure about this, have you really shown her what it is to live with a ninja?" Genma continued to prod, he didn't want his friend stuck in a marriage that wouldn't be working out.

Kakashi snorted as an answer, "Had Shiori been born in Konoha she would have been snatched up by the T&I division right out of the academy or even civilian school. She probably would have made one hell of an intelligence officer if she had come under Inoichi's or Ibiki's tutelage. Her instincts are phenomenal, she has also nerves for it and is twice as stubborn, you should see how she handles my after mission jitters."

"You let her close during those times?" Gai now asked concerned, he knew from experience that Kakashi could be pretty violent after missions and before he had a chance to calm down somewhat.

"My instincts don't recognize her as a threat, not even when I am unconscious. She is probably the only one that could kill me when I am like that." Kakashi said surprisingly frank.

Gai and Genma now looked concerned at each other that could turn out bad.

Gai said tentatively, "My friend is there a possibility that she could be a sleeper agent?"

"Gai, Shiori runs a tea house that caters predominately to ninja, more importantly the black ops. The T&I division routinely checks for any fool play and has complete psychological make ups of each of Shiori's staff, her included." Kakashi said dryly, "I know that there still might be a chance that she is working for somebody but it is so minimal that I won't jeopardize this relationship with her."

"You have changed." Genma finally said.

This was not the emotionally disconnected shinobi he had come to see as first a captain and then as a younger and annoyingly genius brother during their time as ANBU team. This was a man who was in love and starting to build up a life out of the shambles of his destroyed youth.

"For the better I hope." Kakashi said amused, before he hesitated and continued, "There is another thing,… I'm getting out of ANBU."

Genma lost control of his senbon and narrowly missed his own foot, he stuttered for a moment before he finally blurted out, "You are getting out of ANBU?"

Gai beside him twitched and spasmed but was unable to say anything. For a moment there was silence and then Genma's shoulders started to shake before he burst into laughing and doubled over.  
Until now Kakashi had been the last of their former ANBU team who still ran official ANBU missions, the others had all officially left the organization some time ago. Of course the reality was somewhat different, nobody ever left ANBU completely. You just did a lot less of black ops missions and had more 'official' missions that didn't require you to wear an animal mask. Everybody in ANBU who had run missions with the Hatake genius had concurred that the only way he ever would leave ANBU was either through a direct order of the Hokage or due to 'final' retirement, and with that they meant death.

When Genma had calmed down somewhat he wiped the tears from his eyes, "Damn! This woman has not only succeeded in making you marry her but she also got you to quit ANBU. I think I will have to take a closer look at Inoue-san, to have accomplished something like this she must be something else!"

Kakashi looked down on the bent over form of his comrade and nearly pouted, it wasn't as funny as Genma was acting. His comrade made it sound like Shiori had accomplished a miracle; he would have gotten out of ANBU on his own one day; at least that was what Kakashi was telling himself stubbornly.

While Genma had given into his mirth, Gai had been unusually quiet through the whole conversation, a curious look in the direction of the green beast made Kakashi stiffen in resignation, he knew what was coming now and there was no way to escape it. Gai's eyes were swimming with tears and he finally burst into tears before he crushed Kakashi in a bear hug.

"MY ENTERNAL RIVAL, MAY I OFFER YOU MY CONGRATULATIONS! Shiori-san is not only one of the most beautiful flowers that bloom in Konoha, but she also must be brimming with youthfulness to have garnered your attention and led you out of the dark forest and into the light of the thriving glade!" Gai shouted while his teeth shined in the sun.

Kakashi inwardly shook his head; it was so like Gai to use ANBU code in his congratulation speech. Dark forest meant the ANBU forces and glade indicated Konoha and with that the official missions.

The recovered Genma suddenly looked like he had an epiphany over which he was decidedly put out because he growled in an annoyed voice, "Damn it Kakashi, you know what I just realized? Your stupid secrecy has cost us a legendary stag party!"

Kakashi looked at Genma for a while before he could only shake his head and chuckle helplessly, "If that's all? I promise that when my marriage becomes public knowledge you are allowed to plan this ex post stag party."

Hopefully Genma would have forgotten about Kakashi's promise when the time came because the silver haired Jounin would do everything to keep Shiori away from prying eyes as long as possible.

"What a hip idea, I too shall help with the planning of this most youthful event!" Gai shouted in delight while Genma was desperately trying to derail Gai's plan to join him in the preparations.

Throwing a desperate look at the groom the senbon specialist was disappointed when he saw the relaxed form of the Hatake prodigy. There would be no help from Kakashi's side, on the contrary the man had the audacity to even look amused while Genma desperately tried to save a legendary stag party before it even came to fruit. The senbon wielder's musings over the younger man's uselessness were interrupted when he listened with horror to Gai's ideas for the day.  
There would certainly be NO wrestling between the participants, at most they would go and watch a mud wrestling between two kunoichis,… hey that could work, now how did he convince Gai that this was a much better idea?

While his friends were haggling over the details of his imaginary stag party, a quick look at the sun assured Kakashi that he still had nearly two hours left until he was going to marry, time enough to get those two idiots into formal wear and take a quick shower.


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19**

When the three shinobi arrived at the front portal of the Fire shrine, Shiori wasn't in sight yet and so their conversation turned to the newest weapon shop in Konoha. Genma was just complaining about the more than deficient quality of the senbon needles which nearly got him killed in the last mission when he stopped in the middle of his sentence to stare at something behind Kakashi.

"Kami all mighty." he murmured nearly reverently while his eyes were fixed on the figure behind his comrades.

The two other Jounin followed his gaze and Kakashi's heart stopped for a second while Gai too murmured in admiration.

"Hatake, you are such a lucky bastard." Genma said under his breath while he didn't lift his gaze off the slowly closer coming figure, Shiori looked stunning.

The silver haired genius answered with a distracted, "Huh?" while he took the form of his bride in.

Shiori wasn't wearing the traditional white wedding kimono which the civilians normally preferred and fussed over for months on end before the wedding, nor wore she the flamboyant red and gold kimono that was favored by the Konoha kunoichis. Instead she wore a pearl colored kimono that changed into a delicate purple color at her hips that was emulated in her nearly calf length sleeves. The silk fabric was held together with an obi of the same purple color that was already used in the kimono. Just like her wedding kimono her Uchikake was far from traditional, instead of the normal non-transparent silk, the fabric had a light and see through quality and flowed like water around her figure, all over the fabric were delicate flowers distributed that wound themselves around her figure in various shades between pearl, pink and light purple.  
Even at her wedding ceremony Shiori had refused to wear a lot of make up, the beauty shop owner had been shocked and slightly horrified at her request but had complied in the end and instead of the white powder mask, red painted lips and coal lined eyes that were tradition, Shiori wore no powder, her complexion was thankfully blemish free, subtly pink painted lips and coal lined sparkling blue eyes which were made even more intense through the subtle silver eye shadow above them.

Shiori eyed the three dumbstruck men watching her and inwardly cheered, she had succeeded in making them speechless. The black haired woman was glad that she had chosen the unorthodox dress kimono this new young designer had tried to sell to the wedding store; Shiori had taken one look and had fallen in love with it. The kimono nearly made up for the fact that Kakashi had left her a week, A WEEK to find a wedding kimono. During the first days of her search, Shiori had earnestly considered murdering her fiancé. Shiori was still contemplating what kind of revenge she should administer for putting her through that.  
Her thoughts turned back to the men in front of her, Kakashi was wearing the traditional wedding wardrobe for men, while both Gai and Genma were in similar outfits, all three of them made a striking sight with their powerful physics.

"So,… ready?" Shiori asked slightly nervous while she bit her lip, she was thankful for the fact that her make up artist had chosen waterproof make up and she so couldn't smudge it.

Funnily enough it was Gai who recovered as the first, "Inoue-san you look absolutely stunning." he told her in a surprisingly moderate voice.

As an answer her smile became bigger and she laughed shortly before saying, "Thank you Maito-san, you three look rather handsome yourself."

Genma elbowed Kakashi who still looked at Shiori like in a trance, "Wuh?" her said intellectually while his eyes travelled for the nth time up and down her body.

"I'm sorry Inoue-san but it seems as if Kakashi has become brain dead, why don't I entertain you while he recovers?" Genma said dryly and lifted his hand as if to touch her.

His arm hadn't even invaded her personal space yet when the senbon wielder was pushed out of the way and landed undignified in the low bushes a few meters away from them.

"Whoops." Kakashi said unapologetic before he gently took Shiori's hand into his and squeezed it.

Shiori's eyes became softer while she returned the gentle grip. What a lot of people didn't know about Kakashi was that he had problems with conveying his feelings and thoughts additionally to the fact that he didn't like to show them. So most of his acquaintances just thought that he simply didn't care enough to talk or choose deliberately not to talk to keep as distant as possible. So Shiori had to learn pretty fast to read the signs and subtle messages to avoid misunderstandings, her ability to read between the lines and interpret intimate touched for what they were, signs of his love and affection made it a lot easier for the tight lipped shinobi to convey himself.  
So as answer to the gently squeeze Shiori blushed while she looked onto the ground, her cheeks turning an enticing pink color that matched her lips, it was nice to know that she could dazzle Kakashi like this.

Gai and the recovered Genma could only stare at the couple in awe, Kakashi had been right, the two of them just fit together.

The group started moving in direction of the temple, it was time for the wedding ceremony.  
A few short meters away from the entrance Kakashi removed the genjutsu masked he had used for his walk through the public part of to the shrine property. Both Genma and Gai stilled for a moment at that before continuing on behind the couple, for them this gesture was pretty close to monumental, they had only seen Kakashi on a few occasions without mask, most of these times it was either involuntary or for the good of the mission, that he felt that he had to remove it for this gave them a pretty good estimate about how serious Kakashi was about this marriage.

The wedding party made it's way inside where a Shinto priest was already waiting. Shiori and Kakashi had decided to forgo most rituals and just go through the most basic ones, neither felt the need for an over the top ceremony when they already knew that they loved each other. So it took only forty or so minutes to complete the basic blessing rituals along with exchanging of the traditional vows and sharing sake. Both Kakashi and Shiori signed the wedding certificate before handing it over to Gai and Genma to sign it as their witnesses.  
Before the Shinto priest could remove the copy that would stay in the shrine from the vicinity of the groom, Kakashi placed a barely noticeable genjutsu over the certificate that changed their names, the priest would file it and nobody would ever know Hatake Kakashi had married. The genjutsu was so minimal that it would feed of the chakra in the air and would never dispel without the correct chakra frequency.

The group was still quiet when they left the temple and leisurely walked down the stairs, everyone of the wedding party felt like they were in some kind of dream or strange genjutsu. Only the clasped hands of Shiori and Kakashi somehow confirmed that this was not a dream but reality.

On the last step Gai stopped and turned to the married couple that had already reached the base, "Kakashi-san, Shiori-san. Go-kekkon omedetou gozaimasu."

"Thank you Gai." Kakashi said smiling, having recovered at first.

"Yes, thank you Gai-san." Shiori laughed while she leaned her head on Kakashi's shoulder, her husband let go of her hand and wrapped it around her waist before pulling her closer to him.

Genma beside the three laughed before he turned to the newly married couple, "Yes congratulations to your marriage. I wish you the best, although Kakashi don't think I won't forget how you sprung this on us!"

"Mah, mah." Kakashi said while he scratched the back of his neck and did his typical eye smile.

Shiori couldn't stop her laughing and tried to unsuccessfully hide it into Kakashi's shoulder, the shinobi grinned at each other while they watched the only female in their round trying to keep some of her composure.

"So, you two won't come back with us to Konoha will you?" Genma continued to ask curious.

"Actually I have no idea, Kakashi?" Shiori said slightly bemused she hadn't thought further than the wedding to her embarrassment.

"Nah, we are staying here. We will see you in a week." Kakashi said while he smiled down at Shiori.

Both Gai and Genma had noticed that Kakashi's smiles and actions were a lot more sincere whenever they were turned to Shiori, their comrade really did love that woman and apparently felt extremely possessive about her, Genma silently vowed to tease the silver haired Jounin about this as much as possible.

The senbon wielder grinned at the two after he came out of his thoughts and said cheerfully, "Have fun you two. By the way Kakashi don't think that I will forget what you promised me."

After that the two Jounin said their goodbyes to the couple and jumped into the trees to make their way back to Konoha, their heads were full with information and revelation that they would have to chew onto for some time.

As soon as their witnesses were out of sight, Kakashi shunshined Shiori directly into the honeymoon suite he had reserved for the two of them.

"Promise?" Shiori asked confused and slightly distracted in Kakashi's arms, she curiously took in the room in which they were, it was a very nice suite, they were probably in one of the high class hotels around the temple if she wasn't mistaken.

Said shinobi sighed, "I promised Genma that he would be allowed to organize my stag party when our marriage becomes public knowledge, I hope until then he will have forgotten this promise."

Shiori looked at Kakashi and burst into laughter, "I hate to tell you this anata but I don't think he will forget that no matter what."

The shinobi stiffened and turned his full attention to his wife, "…, say that again." Kakashi growled while he looked intently at Shiori.

Shiori furrowed her eyebrows, "What,…oh,…" and then grinned, "Anata."

She whispered seductive into Kakashi's ear, before she shrieked amused when he threw her carefully on the hotel bed and more or less ripped his clothes off, Shiori could only hope that he would be somewhat more careful with her own garments, she liked her wedding kimono.

What followed was an exhausting week for Shiori, with only short breaks between the unbelievable honey moon sex.


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20**

Three weeks after her honeymoon Shiori hosted Genma for the first time in her own home, unfortunately the shinobi was in a pretty bad condition.  
The young wife had just started with making dinner when Kakashi walked through the door from his latest mission half carrying, half dragging a tired looking senbon user.

"Welcome home." Shiori smiled at Kakashi before she let her eyes run over their bodies and she checked the two over for visible injuries. Her husband looked more or less fine but she couldn't tell exactly about his comrade.

"Genma-san, are you alright?" she asked concerned while she came closer to where Kakashi had deposited Genma on the couch.

"Nothing life threatening, don't worry I just broke him out of the hospital, he is staying for dinner if that's okay with you." Kakashi said nonchalantly but Shiori picked up on the silent question in the statement.

"Of course!" Shiori agreed instantly before she tilted her head to the side and sighed while she took in Genma's form, "Chakra exhaustion Genma-san?"

"Yes I fear so. Sorry for the intrusion." the last part was said slightly embarrassed.

"Don't be silly and you Kakashi?" she then continued.

"I'm just a bit tired and there are some scratches but no poison." Shiori sighed in relief and kissed him on his slightly scruffy cheek, he had removed his mask the moment he had entered the house, just like always.

After a scrutinizing look up and down his form Shiori sighed relaxed somewhat before she told her husband in a warm but stern voice, "Anata I hope you brought Genma-san's chakra supplements or you are going right back to the hospital to get them."

As an answer the silver haired Jounin sighed slightly, pouted and moved back to the front door. He knew that it wouldn't be worth it to argue with Shiori about this, now who had been Genma's doctor again?

Shiori heard the front door clicking and now was alone with her husband's comrade. The black haired civilian moved closer to the exhausted shinobi and helped him sit down more comfortably on the living room couch. She also put a blanket around his upper body; she knew from experience with Kakashi that chakra exhaustion caused them to freeze.

Genma had to control his blush at Shiori's actions but strangely felt at ease with Kakashi's wife, since the wedding ceremony Genma and Gai had taken to visit Mariko's more often to get a feel for their former teammate and captain's wife. Shiori hadn't treated them in anyway different than her other customers and even her interaction with Kakashi was impeccable in public. There hadn't been even the slightest sign that they knew each other more familiarly, not to mention being married to each other.  
Kakashi was right, Shiori would have made a phenomenal infiltration specialist. She had a way with people and it was easy for her to get even the most paranoid ones to talk to her. Even more so Kakashi's wife was a genuinely kind and likeable person and in some way Genma was glad that she was a civilian and not a kunoichi. The muddy kind of work the intelligence squad did most of the time would have destroyed her or at least dampened some of her warmth and kindness.  
That was probably also the main reason why Morino-san hadn't approached her to work for the T&I yet. After all Genma had heard of some instances where civilians who were especially suited for that kind of work were employed and trained to work as spies and informants for their Intelligence division and while approximately half of them survived their work, they always returned somewhat changed if not damaged beyond repair.  
The senbon wielder was relatively sure that in Shiori's case it was unlikely to happen, Genma had seen how even the normally so controlled Morino Ibiki relaxed in Kakashi's wife's presence. The phrase, 'Don't shit were you eat' was probably the most appropriate in that situation. The T&I people wanted to preserve one of the few places where they could relax their guard even a little bit and so stayed clear from Shiori, with the exception of background checks and infiltrator checks of course.

Genma was pulled out of his thoughts when the black haired civilian started to rearrange the throw blanket over his body. She hadn't tried to remove his weapons or pouches to make him more comfortable like a normal civilian probably would have done, and while she did place the blanket around him she did it in such a casual way that it preserved at least some of his dignity than if she had made a big fuss over it. It was clear in that moment that Shiori was married to a shinobi and understood or at least accepted their paranoia and need for subtlety as well as their pride. This little fact endeared her even more to Genma, who had made up his mind about her some time ago during his third visit of the tea house.  
There was something about her that relaxed him and made the senbon wielder want to tell Shiori the real state of his body or mind, whatever it was it had the potential to be very dangerous for the exANBU operative. Genma had noticed that even or especially her husband was not immune to this power. When they had arrived in their home the silver haired Jounin had answered her questions about his body's state truthfully and hadn't used his typical 'I'm fine.' that he under normal circumstances even used when he was a scant few seconds away from bleeding out and which regularly drove the Konoha medics up the wall.

Finishing with placing the blanket so that Genma could easily reach out of it and move his hand to the small side table beside the couch, Shiori returned to the kitchen to make him some hot green tea and took out some of his favorite dessert, a dark nutty chocolate cake. With quick movements she had cut the cake in artful little pieces so that Genma could pick them up easily with his fingers and returned with the snack to the sitting area, where she deposited it in his reach.

"Is there something I should be aware of Genma-san, any allergies or food preferences?" the black haired woman asked politely.

"I am not picky and as far as I know I'm not allergic to anything." Kakashi's comrade answered honestly, already on his second cake cube.

Shiori nodded and returned to the kitchen where she doubled her ingredients, Genma would need as much calories as possible to speed up his recovery and Kakashi was probably on the low side too after spending the last few days on a mission. Her husband the twit, never ate right when he something was bothering him or he was working on an important mission.

About fifteen minutes after Kakashi had left, the silver haired Jounin walked through the front door once more and handed the chakra supplements over to his wife. Shiori kissed him affectionately as thanks before she sent him up to take a shower and clean up. A quick look on the label let Shiori remove three pills from the container and hand the prescribed dosage and a glass of water over to Genma. Said shinobi took the medicine after a short moment of hesitation and swallowed them without complaining. The pills would make him feel drowsy for the next hour or so and normally he didn't even feel safe enough to take them in his own flat, but here with Kakashi on hand to take care of any threats he relented to Shiori's unspoken order.

"Genma-san, I hope I don't overstep any boundaries but is there somebody who will miss you if you don't return to your flat today?" the question broke through the first medicine induced tiredness.

"No worries, Shiori-san. No I live alone." Genma answered.

The Hokage's bodyguard was feeling disinclined to get worked up over the question about his personal life, he had a feeling that the small civilian wasn't just asking because of her own curiosity and need to gossip.

"Good, than you are staying with us until you have recovered." Shiori said with a final tone and a nod.

"Shiori-san that's really not,…" Genma started to protest.

They were already hosting him for dinner he couldn't accept this additional offer, after all he was going to be a lot better after eating some real food and he really didn't feel comfortable being a burden, especially not to the kind woman in front of him.

An amused chuckle interrupted any further protests, "Give it up Genma, arguing with Shiori isn't going to work, she will just use your own words against you." Kakashi said lazily while sending a fond gaze at his wife.

The silver haired shinobi was leaning lazily against the door and took in the scene in front of him; he was now wearing his normal long sleeved sweater but without his mask and Genma could see the amusement plainly on his face.

"Still, I am thankful enough that you have busted me out of the hospital, I really shouldn't,…" Genma tried to argue before he was interrupted once again.

"You are hurt. You are staying until you have recovered." Shiori said with a final tone, before she continued, "and if you think about sneaking out before your body is fit again, I will be very put out with you Genma-san."

Genma looked helpless at Kakashi who just grinned and signed 'told ya so', which received an eye roll and a 'fuck you' expression from Genma. Kakashi just chuckled before he sat down across from his former ANBU teammate and opened up his little orange book to read for a while and give Genma a chance to relax in his home and catch some sleep while the chakra pills did their work.

The proximity of a ninja the senbon wielder trusted let him relax back into the blankets, close his eyes, Genma could practically feel how his body became heavier and her started to doze off.

Shiori, always making sure that Kakashi was well fed, brought over his favorite green tea cake and a hot cup of tea. A quick look over to Genma showed that the man was already half asleep and so Kakashi unhurried tugged Shiori closer and kissed her softly to convey his thanks and affection. The silver haired Jounin vowed to come up with something to thank his wife for what she was doing for him and Genma.


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21**

Genma was awoken some time later by the delicious smell that had started to fill the whole room, looking around the shinobi registered sleepy that Kakashi must have left during the last few minutes or he would have awoken sooner.  
Thanks to the chakra supplements and the calories Genma had received from Shiori's snack he already felt a lot better than an hour ago and inwardly debated the question if he was strong enough to start moving around. In the end he carefully started to stretch his muscles before he unwrapped himself from the blanket. He slowly tested if his feet would carry him again and inwardly grimaced. At the moment they didn't give out on him but he still felt wobbly and had no apparent strength in them, if he forced himself to leave now he would just end up in the hospital again. Resigned of his body's weakness Genma moved his attention to the room he was in and his gaze landed on the state of art kitchen in which Shiori was working diligently.

Said black haired Hatake looked up from what she was stirring in the pot and addressed him, "Genma-san, please feel free to explore if you think your body can take it,… but I would appreciate it if you would stay away from the master bedroom upstairs."

Genma nodded at this and started to wander around in the spacious living room. The furniture was clearly pure Shiori; comfortable, warm and functional described every bit of it, a closer look at the way they were arranged clued him in on Kakashi's involvement in their house. The furniture was placed in such a way that someone who knew his way around here could find enough places to find some coverage and prepare a counter attack. Genma was sure that his paranoid captain had more than enough weapons hidden away around the house to counter an invasion, and he was somewhat curious if Shiori knew and what she thought about Kakashi's habit. In the end he decided against asking her he didn't want to be the cause of a fight between the newlyweds. Having completed the inspection of the room Genma made his way to the adjourning room behind the kitchen.

Before he could vanish into the next room Shiori said pleasantly, "Oh before I forget, if you follow the rooms in this direction you will find the guest room on the end. I have already changed sheets and left some of Kakashi's clothes in there. Feel free to change and take a shower if you feel up to it. I will call when dinner is ready."

"Thanks." Genma said unable to find anything else to say.

The senbon wielder then returned to his exploring, now that his chakra situation wasn't that dire his keen senses picked up on Kakashi's moving chakra signature outside the house, it seemed as if his comrade was performing a perimeter check.

Ignoring his friend for a time, Genma continued his way through the house. The library behind the kitchen made him smile, he knew of Kakashi's passion for good literature and stories that he concealed with his obvious habit of reading porn in public. The brown haired shinobi could easily imagine Kakashi spending hours on end in here, partially listening to Shiori moving around in the kitchen or doing something else. A quick scan of the book titles just confirmed his suspicion; there were books of every topic as well as what seemed like a freshly added shelf on the far side of the room.  
With a slight smile on his lips Genma walked through the next door into, what looked like a storage/ work room. His right eyebrow rose when his sense of smell picked up the scent of the tea mixture that was unique to Mariko's as soon as he walked between the shelves of the clearly defined work area. It seemed as if Shiori did more than just inventing snacks, the unique blends were also of her creation. Furthermore it looked like she also made use of Fuinjutsu designs to stop the strong scents of the different ingredients stacked between the shelves from reaching the rest of the house, probably for Kakashi's benefit. Genma poked around somewhat and glanced at the big and small containers filled with dried tea leaves before walking over to the desk that contained some hand written pages. His eyebrow continued to rise when he saw the detailed and structured notes listing off the different effects of the plants used in the tea combinations. Genma picked up on the words relaxants, stimulants and increased speed of recovery and had to smile and shake his head. No wonder her tea house was so popular with the medics and that the Konoha ninja were actively encouraged from them to visit it. The second stack of papers contained what looked like failed trials and notations to them, Genma had to marvel over Kakashi's wife, she was smart and had an approach to things that interested her not unlike a Nara. Continuing his investigation Genma found spices on the small side tables that bordered on the work desk, they were probably used to either mask or enhance the different tea flavors. Having sated his current curiosity about Shiori's work Genma continued his way through the room. On the shelves close to the back door he found neatly stacked garden tools, and after a last searching gaze through the room Genma opened the next door in the house and promptly stopped.  
It seemed as if he had found the guest room Shiori had been talking about. The room was just as relaxing as the rest of the house; the colors were muted and had an earthy tone to them. On the neatly done bed was a standard Jounin uniform and Genma was thanking the fact that he and Kakashi had the same height and built. With some faster steps Genma moved into the bathroom, the nurses in the hospital had wiped away the worst of the grime that had stuck to him but Genma was glad to finally be able to take a proper shower.  
After finishing with his shower and quickly changing into the borrowed clothes, he returned to other room and then followed his friend's signature into the back yard. Kakashi had just landed in the middle of the lawn and threw a last searching look around before he joined Genma on the bench right beside the backdoor.  
Genma felt his body ache slightly, the moving around had cost him some of the energy from his earlier nap. The two Jounin were silent while they took in the tranquil atmosphere of the advancing evening. Even in the rapidly increasing darkness Genma could discern the neat flower beds and landscaped hedges and bushes, before his eyes followed the small creek that ran on the far side of the back yard and his eyes came to a halt on the small wooden bridge and traditional tea house. Suddenly feeling curious Genma sent out a minor chakra probe before he tilted his head slightly he had just confirmed his suspicions, he knew that residual chakra signature.

He frowned for a second before he more stated then asked, "That is Tenzo-san's Mokuton wood, isn't it?"

Kakashi just nodded, his little kohai had owed him a favor and after some truly hilarious expressions he had built him the tea house and bridge for Shiori's birthday. It had been a bitch to get the building sealed and then anchored in the back yard. Remembering the Mokuton user reminded Kakashi that he hadn't introduced Shiori to any of his colleagues other then Gai and Genma. He would have to take a closer look and decide which ones he could trust with her existence.

"Does he know about Shiori?" Genma wanted to know, he was curious if Kakashi had told anybody else of his wife.

"No, but he sure has his suspicions now." Kakashi answered amused.

Genma shook his head while he suppressed his laughter, Kakashi had always liked to tease the youngest member of his squad mercilessly. Poor Tenzo probably was going out of his mind with curiosity. Before either of the two men could say anything else, the window to the kitchen was opened and Shiori called softly, "Dinner."

There wasn't a lot of talk during dinner, both shinobi concentrated on savoring the delicious dishes, while Shiori watched them contently.

Because of the tea house she and her staff had regular meetings with a civilian nutritionist of the Akimichi clan who advised them and helped them to balance the meals for their customers, be it from Academy students to Jounins or the occasional civilian that entered the tea house accidentally. While the tea house itself didn't offer special made meals for recovering shinobi, the Akimichi nutritionist had approached that topic after one of her staff asked for some tips. The woman in question had a chunin boyfriend and wanted to adjust her cooking in his favor. Shiori herself had taken notes that day and had started to implement the tips and now prepared especially heavy meals for Kakashi every time he returned from taxing missions. She had seen the improvement in his recovery rates and since then had started to experiment with increasing the nutrition content of his favorite dishes, which while quite healthy for a normal civilian were kind of unhealthy for an active shinobi.

Genma couldn't stop shoveling the food into his mouth, he hadn't had access to homemade food since his mother died. Well that was not quit true, there was the occasional bento that a civilian fangirl made for him, hey he wasn't going to refuse free food. Somewhat jealous Genma glanced at his friend; Kakashi was on hell of a lucky bastard he now had access to this heaven everyday for the rest of his life.  
After his second helping Genma finally started to concentrate again more on of the happenings on the table than on the food and sent a concerned look at Shiori, since sitting down she had eaten only a tiny fraction of what they were inhaling.

"Shiori-san, are you alright? Is this everything that you are eating?" asked Genma concerned, it may be rude of him to ask her about her eating habits, but this couldn't be normal, could it?

Shiori smiled at the concerned voice, Kakashi had asked her the same thing after the first few times she had started to cook specifically to meet his body's needs.

"Don't worry Genma-san; these dishes are especially tailored to the needs of recovering shinobi, they have a very high calorie and nutrient count so I'm eating just the right amount for a civilian. Thank you for your concern, can I offer you thirds?" Shiori explained before smiling at Genma.

Still not completely reassured but accepting her answer Genma scratched the back of his head before he grinned embarrassed, "Yes please."

With a delighted smiled Shiori stood up and went to refill the serving platters.

When she was far enough away Kakashi leaned over to his friend and said, "I know it's sound unbelievable but I have checked, Shiori is really eating the right amount for her age and bodyweight."

Genma just nodded; inwardly he was embarrassed that he didn't think about fact that Kakashi would already have done something about this if his wife's eating habits were in any kind unhealthy.

Kakashi on the other hand was kind of relieved over Genma's seemingly overbearing behavior. He knew his long time comrade; the man was secretly a mother-hen. It looked like Genma had decided that he liked Shiori and was learning to relax around her, which made Kakashi feel pretty content. Konoha's teams, especially the ANBU ones were tight; they were most of the time much closer than even blood family, having fought and bled together. That Genma was accepting Shiori as more than a simple family member to a comrade so soon after being introduced to her, made Kakashi feel easier about introducing the rest of his former ANBU cell to her, after all it would have to happen sometime, preferably sometime soon because while they probably would understand his need of protecting Shiori, they still would be hurt about his apparent lack of trust, especially when they found out that both Genma and Gai were already in the know.


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22**

Shiori hurried home, the black haired woman was so lost in thought that she tripped over her own feet when she turned into one of the smaller side streets and it nearly made her fall. The only thing that stopped her was the wooden fence on her left side. Shiori's eyes widened and she could feel her heart beat rapidly in her chest. Inwardly she scolded herself 'What the hell was she doing?'  
Shiori had always prided herself of her calm and collected nature and that next to nothing could unsettle her and even less could make her lose her composure but this, THIS,… terrified her beyond what she had believed.  
Her Zen like composure, that the black haired reincarnation had forced herself to develop to be somehow able to cope with having the memories and partial personality of a past life, was at the moment nearly completely nonexistent.

While in Kawa Shiori never feared about being discovered, she was simply too busy with her chores, work and lessons to even contemplate her situation properly. This changed rapidly the moment she entered Konoha and held her residency certificate in her hands. It had taken some weeks for the thought to settle in that she was now living in the mids of shinobi and then she had freaked out, Shiori wasn't proud of this but she had cried and screamed into her pillow until some of her anxiousness had receded and her logic began to return.  
From that day on Shiori had started to,… not meditate but something similar,… Shiori had developed her Zone as she liked to call it. The state of mind she now could enter in seconds that helped her take in the stimuli around her with care, consider the possible outcomes and act accordingly without her emotions and knowledge interfering with her actions too much. Because Shiori was a naturally kind soul and hated any kind of conflict, her gestures and responses endeared her to the people she interacted with, the ninja more so than the civilians.

When Shiori first noticed how her coping mechanism seemed to calm the normally trigger happy ninja in Konoha, she was confused. What made her different then other civilian shop owners in Konoha? Why attracted she professional mercenaries like a flame the moths?  
Till that day Shiori wasn't sure, but in the end she had decided that it probably had to do something with her intend. The black haired woman was a people pleaser,… she liked helping people, Shiori felt satisfied if she knew that she could ease somebody's worries. She didn't HAVE an ulterior motive other than selling sweets and tea and be generally helpful. And that was probably what made her so successful when others failed. Shiori knew that ninja were hyper sensitive to all stimuli around them, or at least the older generation. Their senses were so finely tuned that they could practically smell a suspicious person if confronted with him or her, even if they couldn't pinpoint a reason why they shouldn't trust that person, their gut feeling would warn them. And ninja NEVER ignored their gut feeling, at least not those that had a few serious battles behind them.  
So it was probably those fine tuned instincts that now came to bite them in the ass. Shiori felt trustworthy, polite and kind hearted to them, which made them drop their guards and relax more than even normal civilians would around her. Which led to the unfortunate problem that Shiori and her staff collected more information about the ninja in Konoha than probably any foreign spy did. And this was a bad, bad situation; possessing too much information was DANGEROUS in this world! Especially as a civilian.  
For that reason she had insisted on training her personnel so strictly and had the privacy seals installed on every table in her restaurant, even if they had been ridiculously expensive.

Shiori breathed in deeply and released the air through her slightly open mouth while she felt how her heartbeat was slowly returning to normal. This small trip down memory lane had helped her calm herself. Another deep breath and then Shiori opened her eyes and slowly made her way in direction of her home.

She was stupid she grumbled at herself, she had KNOWN that this would be the inevitable outcome of her actions, of her marriage; to freak out now was stupid and immature.  
The closer the black haired civilian came to her home the faster her heart started to beat once more, but this time it wasn't fear and anxiousness, no it was a kind of wary excitement that thrummed through her body. Shiori bit her lip and couldn't suppress the gleeful giggle that escaped her, she was interested in what Kakashi would say about her news. The thought of her husband let her reminisce once more.

During their honeymoon Shiori had asked Kakashi if he wanted children in one of the few breaks between bouts of sex. Her new husband had stilled at that and hadn't been answering for quite some time.  
What followed was not the light teasing she thought she would receive when she asked, instead Kakashi had told her the truth about the ugly practice of kidnapping children with bloodlines or famous parents and that it happened a lot more often than advertised to the civilians. He told her how even big clans like the Hyuuga had trouble preventing these attacks and that no matter what he did, he couldn't promise that it wouldn't happen to them.  
The truth and the consequences had let Shiori still and she hadn't said anything while she tried to work through the news. A part of her had screamed no, no, no, no the whole time and wanted to refuse to even consider children if they would just be taken away from her in such a way. A second voice had agreed while it had insidiously whispered about the upcoming war and how would she a weak little civilian defend them against people like the Akatsuki? Shiori had shuddered at this desperately and had already wanted to tell Kakashi that she didn't want any children when she had looked up into the single dark eye that looked so serious and lost at the same moment, the worry inside it and the unspoken screams of 'Don't leave me, don't leave me, I'll do whatever you want, don't leave me' that it seemed to convey. The insecurities of her new husband had burned her like the hottest fire, Kakashi and herself were no longer just separate individuals, how could she just make up her mind about such a big thing alone and just decide without asking him what he was thinking about this?  
Wordless she had drawn him into her arms and the two had made love without any further words about this topic, Kakashi had been infinitely gentle with her for the rest of the day while her thoughts returned to their possible children again and again.  
Sometime in the middle of the night when she had awoken because Kakashi had pressed her a bit too hard to him to be comfortable Shiori had come to a decision, this was her life and damn it she wanted children, she wanted these children with Kakashi and no one else. Yes the risk of her babies being kidnapped was higher because Kakashi was who he was but it was also significantly lower because of the same reason, only stupid and suicidal people would want face off against an angry elite shinobi. The two of them had been able to keep their relationship and wedding a secret and they would also be able to keep their family a secret so long as they were vulnerable. They would just have to make it work and have a few contingency plans on the side.  
On the next morning she had asked Kakashi again if he wanted children, he had stilled again before after an unbelievingly long moment he had nodded nearly unnoticeable. Shiori hadn't been able to stop a few tears from running down her cheeks because of the relief and strangely enough heartbreak. Why was she heartbroken over Kakashi's confession? Shiori didn't know so instead she pulled herself together and then told her husband that she would stop taking the contraception pills the next day.  
What had followed was mind blowing sex, which had continued for the rest of the day; both could feel the desperation and insatiable need of the other. When they were more clear headed again they agreed to let nature run it's course and not actively try to conceive, even though Shiori had dryly said that with their sex drive it was inevitable, to which Kakashi had just chuckled and kissed her again.

So and now here she was, having just arrived from her biannual check up at the gynecologist with the knowledge that she was about three weeks along. Shiori swallowed nervously while she remembered her appointment.

"Hhm,.. oh!" Himawatari-sensei murmured when she finished with the diagnostic jutsu over Shiori's womb.

"Himawatari-sensei?", Shiori asked slightly confused.

The retired kunoichi looked neutral at the black haired woman when she said, "Inoue-san, it seems as if you are pregnant."

Shiori's eyes went big and she was unable to say anything for a moment before she asked rushed, "A-are you sure?"

"Yes, you are about three weeks along.", the doctors voice was still completely neutral.

Shiori didn't notice that, her head was trying to wrap itself around the fact that she was pregnant, that she was going to be a mother. Without realizing her eyes went soft and a slow and gently smile appeared on her face.

"I take it, these are no unwelcome news?", a now smiling Himawatari-sensei said.

"No, this is fine." Shiori then laughed somewhat overwhelmed, "It's better than fine! I can't believe it, that was quick."

"Oh, have you been actively trying to conceive?", the doctor now asked curiously.

"Not directly, my partner and I agreed to let nature run it's course and I stopped taking the pill about two months ago, I thought it would take longer.", Shiori explained somewhat unsurely.

Himawatari-sensei now looked knowingly, "The father is a shinobi isn't he?"

"Yes,… how?", Shiori asked confused.

"Because they circulate and work with their chakra constantly they are nearly three times as fertile as civilian men. So with speed of the conception I'm taking a wild guess and say your partner is at least a Tokubetsu Jounin.", answered a still smiling Himawatari-sensei.

Shiori just nodded, she was quite surprised that Himawatari-sensei could find out so much about her husband with just a conception date and the date when she stopped taking her pills.

The elder woman was glad that Shiori didn't want an abortion like most unmarried civilians, well okay, Himawatari Etsuko couldn't be sure about her marital status anymore if the father of the child was a shinobi. Most of her active colleagues were paranoid about their loved ones and Etsuko was suspecting that Inoue-san's partner was quite high up in the food chain. She had stretched the truth somewhat, to have conceived in the first month after the pill had been stopped meant that the father had to be somewhere close to Kage- level and their weren't that much powerful shinobi in Inoue-san's age range. It also meant that she would have to have a careful eye on the pregnancy; the chakra system of the baby would develop a lot sooner than that of a child of a civilian or a chunin. Furthermore, because Inoue-san was a civilian she would feel the drainage a lot stronger than a kunoichi or academy drop out, it would probably be for the best to start prescribe chakra increasing supplements as fast as possible.

The doctor then continued to explain, "Because you are a civilian I will prescribe you some chakra supplements, beside the normal prenatal ones to alleviate the drain you will feel especially during the first few months while the chakra system develops."

Now Shiori was concerned, "Could there be complications?"

"It's a slightly higher risk then a normal pregnancy, but you don't have to worry Inoue-san, neither you nor the child will be harmed as long as you take your prescription. Are there any other question that I can answer for you?"

"Not at the moment thank you."

"Very well. I don't think that I have to tell you that alcohol is a no go?... Good, please also be careful about your coffee and green tea intake, it can be harmful in too big amounts.", Etsuko-sensei said.

"Oh, Himawatari-sensei,… I … uhm I mean what about sex?" Shiori blushed while she asked.

"Don't worry Inoue-san, the baby won't be harmed during intercourse, at least not during the first two trimester, later you may have to abstain shortly before birth because of one reason or another but don't worry about it now, we will talk about the details at your next appointment. Please schedule it for six weeks from now before you leave." Himawatari-sensei reassured her before handing her a small container, not unlike Genma's and explained the dosage to her, Shiori would have to stock up on it in two weeks.

So here she was now preparing dinner and frantically trying to find the right words to tell Kakashi about the pregnancy. She still had no idea what to say when Kakashi finally arrived.

Said shinobi was confused about her jittery behavior but didn't say anything for the time being; instead he continued his routine and showered, Shiori would probably tell him what was bothering her on her own and if she didn't he would just have to seduce it out of her. His last thought brought a slightly predatory smile to his face while he dried off the last of the water on his body and quickly changed for dinner.  
When he returned in the living room he raised an eyebrow, Shiori was looking absent minded out of the window while she cleaning the same pot she had been doing when he had walked in some fifteen minutes ago. Amused over her obvious distraction, Kakashi walked silently closer and hugged her from behind. Predictably Shiori jumped and let the pot drop, with quick reflexes he saved the now very clean cooking utensil from more abuse and pulled it away from the sink.

"So," he drawled, while he gently kissed along her ear, "is there something you want to tell me?"

"Hhm, yes your surprise attacks will have to stop.", Shiori finally said when her heart stopped beating so frantically, she then relaxed and leaned against her husband's front.

"Oh really?", Kakashi murmured while he caressed her sides and continued his kisses down the back of her neck.

"Yes. It isn't nice to scare pregnant women." Shiori said nonchalantly while she had a hard time to keep the grin out of her voice.

Kakashi's movements froze along with his brain. Did she just?  
With a careful but firm movement he turned her around so that she was trapped between him and the kitchen sink. The grin that she wore turned into a softer smile that lit her whole face. Yes she apparently did just tell him she was pregnant.  
With a desperate urgency Kakashi attacked her mouth while his arms came around her in a possessive/ protective embrace. How was that when he thought he couldn't be happier, she turned around and did something that made him fall in love with her even more.

Shiori was pregnant! They were going to have a child! He was going to be a father!  
The thought nearly brought him to his knees, with careful movement Kakashi picked his wife up and carried her over to the couch where he let her down gently while he nearly hesitantly stroked over the still flat stomach and her tiny waist.

"We are going to have a child.", Kakashi finally vocalized his wonder.

Shiori just nodded in joy while she stretched out on the coach and pulled Kakashi down on her. She wound her arms around his neck and slowly kissed him again. She could see the wonder and disbelief in Kakashi's face while he stared at her as if she was a miracle.

"You are going to be a dad.", she whispered nearly tonelessly while she tugged his head against her collarbone, she could feel when Kakashi's breath hitched and he tightened his grip on her shoulders.

The two lay like this for quite some time when Shiori's stomach protested for food. Both of the chuckled while they got up and moved into the kitchen. Shiori reheated the food while her silver haired husband quickly set the table. While they ate Shiori could feel how Kakashi's eyes never even strayed once away from her face.

"How far along are you?", Kakashi couldn't help but ask curiously.

"Just about three weeks, apparently you ninja have super sperm." Shiori joked while she put the dishes in the sink.

"Hhm, really now.", Kakashi said amused while he stroked over Shiori's back, he hadn't been able to remove his hands from her since dinner.

"Uhuh.", Shiori giggled while she moved her behind against Kakashi's half hard erection, she received a moan as answer.

"Shiori, we probably shouldn't.", groaned Kakashi.

"Himawatari-sensei said that sex is totally fine during the first two trimesters, after that we will have to be a bit more careful.", Shiori reassured him.

As an answer Kakashi removed the dish from her hands and in the next moment she was lying on their bed with Kakashi making quick work of both their clothes.

Afterwards when Shiori had already fallen into a deep sleep Kakashi lay awake and watched her in the light of the nearly full moon, her body still looked deceivingly normal, in a few months her pregnancy would be plain to see and to be honest Kakashi couldn't wait. Possessively he put an arm around her naked middle and pulled her closer, both of them had been insatiable and only after Shiori had nearly lost consciousness after her fourth orgasm had Kakashi relented and let her sleep.  
Breathing in deeply, Kakashi suddenly became more alert, was that,… of course, he was an idiot. Her scent had already been changing for the last three weeks and apparently he had unconsciously already noticed the change. That was probably why he had taken Shiori three to four times a day in the last ten days, only yesterday she had jokingly asked if he was going into heat. Well now they knew that he wasn't, instead his primal side had been staking his claim over her and their pup.  
Kakashi sighed contently while he thought darkly amused about his canine instincts, he would probably be an overbearing and horny bastard in the next eight months, his lips twitched, mah Shiori was strong, his wife would learn to deal with it.


	23. Chapter 23

**Hi, so I finally got my stuff back THANKFULLY!**

**Chapter 23**

The next morning Shiori was awoken by the smell of breakfast, the black haired woman smiled softly into her pillow while she stretched languidly in her bed before she finally decided to leave it. Once up she put on some clothes, did her morning absolutions and walked down into the living room. Her husband was just finishing with frying the fish when she ambled closer and snuggled into his back. While Kakashi wasn't a very practiced cook he still did an excellent job with the few dishes that he could cook, breakfast being one of his best. Now and then he would randomly take over kitchen duty and every time Shiori felt content while she watched him move around in what was normally her domain.  
Today he also had already set the table when she arrived and so she just had to sit down in her usual place while he brought the food over. Thanking Kakashi, Shiori was just about lifting her chopsticks when she remembered her supplements and hurried to take one pill of each container. Kakashi watched her curiously and after she sat the containers down on the table he read through the descriptions on the side.

"Chakra supplements and folic acid?" the shinobi asked slightly worried.

"Don't worry, the folic acid is given to all expecting mothers and the chakra supplements are because you are a ninja and I am a civilian. Our child's chakra system will develop earlier because of your genes and the supplements are there so I don't feel tired all the time." Shiori reassured him.

Kakashi nodded and gave her a kiss on the forehead before he turned back to his food.

"What are you going to do today?" Kakashi asked while he ate his miso soup.

"Visiting at the tea house and checking over the storage and after that I am negotiating a new contract for our chocolate shipment. With the amounts we have been ordering, Kyoya-san should be approachable for a discount." Shiori smirked.

She always had a lot of fun during the meetings with the old merchant; he pretended to be surly and stern but tended to give into her demands sooner or later and the quality of his products was nothing to sneeze at so it was a win-win situation for Shiori.

Kakashi just shook his head, huffing amused before he became somewhat more serious, "Be careful please."

"I will don't worry. When can I expect you home?" Shiori asked contently.

"I'm not sure, but if I have a mission I will send a clone." her husband promised.

Nodding to this Shiori gave him a gentle kiss before he left the house.

It turned out that Kakashi really was sent out on a mission, his clone informed her that it shouldn't take longer than a week at most and that she should take care of herself and the little one. Ten days went by and Shiori was slowly beginning to worry, Kakashi and his team must have run into some trouble because he normally was pretty accurate about his mission length.

When her husband finally arrived back at their home he wasn't alone.  
After eating lunch alone Shiori had started to tend to her raspberry bushes when Kakashi suddenly jumped into the middle of the yard, Shiori let loose a startled shriek before she recognized the silhouette of her husband. He was carrying another ninja on his back and a third one only touched down a second behind him, said man wobbled for a moment before he braced himself against the lawn moaner. Taking the scene in Shiori instantly ushered them inside, Kakashi as far as she could see had his arm in a sling and was hobbling slightly.

"All of us have more or less serve chakra exhaustion and some injuries, but those were already checked over in the hospital. I'm sorry that we scared you." Kakashi said uncommonly serious.

"Don't be silly, I'm glad you are home." Shiori scolded slightly before she removed his mask and kissed him on the lips.

She then quickly stepped back and opened the door to the guest room.  
Since Kakashi had tentatively admitted that the situation with Genma was not an isolated case but more of the norm with him and his comrades, Shiori had insisted on getting a second bed as well as a pull out couch for the room, it was big enough after all. With some quick steps Shiori vanished into the bathroom to get the emergency kit there. Since Kakashi's confession about his habit of breaking out of the hospital, Shiori had finally a reason to stock up on store made chakra supplements, which while not that effective, still helped somewhat.  
In the mean time Kakashi had sat down the barely conscious ninja on his back on one of the beds while the other one had eased himself onto the couch. When Shiori returned out of the adjourning room she just caught the sentence, "…, and who is she?" from the ninja with the face scar lying on the bed.

"Right," Kakashi said in a fake cheerful voice, "Shiori-chan, that guy on the bed is Namiashi Raido, while the one sitting on the couch is my cute little kohai Tenzo-kun. Raido, Tenzo this is Shiori-chan, my wife."

There was a long stretched silence in the room, before Raido-san snorted and said, "I must be hallucinating." and his eyes promptly rolled into the back of his head.

Tenzo on the other hand, while still being completely caught off guard nodded politely into Shiori's direction on reflex and said, "It's nice to meet you Hatake-san."

"Shiori is just fine Tenzo-san. Kakashi if you or Tenzo-san even think about moving around while I am gone, there will be consequences! Sit down while I get you water and something to eat." the black haired woman said before she hastily left the room.

She returned only minutes later with the leftovers from lunch, a bowl full of homemade cookies and three water glasses.

"Haven't moved." Kakashi said cheerfully from his place beside Tenzo.

Shiori's lips twitched before she sent him a disbelieving look, "Right."

After all she saw that Raido was now covered in a blanket and was also missing his west, equipment and shoes, which were neatly stacked beside his feet. After another quick look at the unconscious shinobi Shiori handed the water and some of the chakra pills to both Kakashi and Tenzo.

"Take the pills and after that I want you two to eat something before sleeping until dinner." Shiori stated in a calm voice, she was finally back into her Zone.

Kakashi just nodded while he easily accepted the glass and the pills, which after some hesitation Tenzo emulated. Shiori in the mean time took out extra sheets and blankets from the closet beside the door, while she was listening to the conversation.

"Take the bed Tenzo." Kakashi ordered.

"But Taicho,…" Tenzo tried to protest.

"Don't argue, I won't sleep here in the evening anyway, so you may as well get used to it. Besides the couch is just as comfortable, Shiori and I made sure before we bought it." Kakashi's voice didn't allow any further arguments and Tenzo just mumbled 'Hai' before he staggered to the bed and started to remove his equipment with slightly shaking fingers.

Shiori dropped the extra sheets on the table she had left the food on and helped Kakashi up from the couch before she gently but firmly pushed him slightly back and opened up the couch. With a few quick moments she had it ready for use and Kakashi sat down once more. She then handed the food to the two conscious shinobis before she filled the water glasses once more and placed the still full glass and the chakra pills on Raido's bedside table. She was careful to not move to hasty when she approached the recovering shinobi and quickly left his immediate vicinity when she was finished.

Kakashi visibly relaxed after Shiori was out of Raido's direct reach and quickly kissed her before he said, "Thank you,… I'm sorry that I dropped this on you without a warning."

"It's fine anata, I'm glad you and your teammates are home." Shiori reassured him and gave him a quick squeeze to his uninjured shoulder.

Kakashi nodded while he smiled thankful at his wife, "Wake us when you are done with the cooking, but don't come in until we all are awake, just call from the door!" he insisted worriedly.

"Got it." Shiori simply stated before she hugged him once more and left the room, she would have to feed three ravenous shinobi in a few hours.

After a quick look through the fridge and the pantry Shiori sighed the food that she had there wouldn't be enough for them, a trip to the market was inevitable. After consulting her stack of recipes and writing a list Shiori made her way to the local market. Not only would she get the groceries cheaper than from the stores that were more common in Konoha's centre but also a slightly better quality.  
The black haired civilian had been shopping for nearly an hour and was starting to get tired when she ran across Genma in one of the lesser populated side alleys of the market district.

After a casual look around to see if anybody was watching Genma smiled at Shiori, "Stocking up for Kakashi's return?"

Shiori snorted tiredly, she could feel the headache building, "Yeah and what a return it was, I now have three shinobi in the house suffering from chakra exhaustion and general stubbornness. But don't mind me, how are you?"

Genma chuckled at this, "Oh I'm fine don't worry, but it looks like you have a busy afternoon in front of you, want me to give you a lift? Those groceries look pretty heavy."

Shiori bit her lip, she didn't want to inconvenience Genma, but when he offered?

"Would you? I'm sorry but I really have a lot to do." she asked tentatively.

Genma's smirk turned back into a genuine smile, "Of course, do you need anything else?" to which Shiori shook her head, "Good.".

He took the two bags out of Shiori's hands and secured them with one against his body, with his other hand he grabbed Shiori's shoulder and then he shunshined them directly to her house. A quick chakra probe informed Genma about the identity of the injured shinobi in the house and that there were no other threats in near vicinity.

"Thank you Genma-san." Shiori thanked the helpful senbon wielder while she tried to gain her balance back and then relieved him from her groceries.

"Don't worry about it Shiori-san." Genma reassured the black haired woman before him with a smile, it really didn't bother him to help her out like this.

"Are you free this evening?" came the next question of the new wife.

"Why? Are you asking me out on a date?" Genma said playfully.

"If you don't mind the other three participants?" Shiori gave dryly back.

Genma snorted waggled with his eyebrows and sent her a teasing smirk before it turned into a warm smile, "No I have nothing planned."

"Good, I expect you at six pm at the latest. Feel free to drop in before." Shiori stated while she shook her head, 'and then there were four stubborn shinobi' was her only thought.

"Will do. Bye." Genma nodded before he puffed away, he had some errands to do before he could enjoy Shiori's cooking.

The next two hours were used to cut the vegetables and marinate and prepare the fish and meat before the ingredients were put back into the fridge. Shiori then made two sheets of apple cobbler and a lot of pancake batter with raisins and cinnamon which she moved into the fridge when she took out the ingredients for the main dishes.  
It was shortly after five pm when Genma knocked on her front door, he had brought her flowers as a thank you for the dinner invitation.

"You shouldn't have." Shiori said, while her beaming smile negated her sentence.

"Hey that is the least I could do after you asked me out." Genma said playfully.

The shinobi was thankful that Shiori understood that it was nothing more than hot air and fun, Kakashi and especially Genma himself would never forgive him for making a pass on Shiori that was perceived as more than some playing around. No matter how beautiful and kind she was and how much Genma fancied himself a lady killer, there were some lines that he wouldn't cross and that included the girlfriends and especially wives of his friends and colleagues.

Shiori just snorted as an answer before she said, "I'm a little bit occupied. Could you put them into the glass vase on the side table over there? And give them some water too, please!"

Genma did as he was told before he walked over to Shiori and sat down at one of the bar chairs and watched her whirl around the kitchen, they kept a light and lazy banter going back and forth for some time.

"Right, before I forget it. I stopped at Raido's and Tenzo's apartments and brought them some spare clothes." Genma said after he had swallowed his latest bite, he was covertly taste-testing some of the already finished kaarage while Shiori had her back turned to him.

"Thank you, I'm sure they will be grateful for some fresh clothes, but Genma-san? Did you really think I wouldn't notice you sneaking food?" Shiori asked amused when she turned around.

Genma sent her a sheepish grin, not the least bit apologetic, her cooking was divine.

"Just as bad as Kakashi." Shiori murmured before she quickly filled a plate with bits and pieces of the already finished dishes and handed it over.

Genma just mumbled his thanks under his breath and savored the morsels she had given him.

"I will be finished in about twenty minutes; can you go and wake the three?" Shiori asked when she had two thirds of the meal done.

"Sure." Genma nodded and made his way to the guest room, on the way he noted the additions in the library and the new curtains in front of the windows of Shiori's work room.

Before he opened the door that led to his sleeping comrades, he flashed his chakra in the recognition code of their old team which woke all three of them instantly.

"Genma?" Kakashi asked confused while he rubbed his head to stall the impending headache that always accompanied his recovery from chakra exhaustion.

"Morning you three, I have been sent to wake you up from you beauty sleep. Shiori-san is nearly finished with dinner, time enough to get a shower and put some new clothes on." the senbon wielder said lazily before he unsealed the extra clothes he had grabbed from their respective flats.

"How did you know that we would be here?" Tenzo asked confused while he yawned and stretched carefully, his whole body was aching.

"I ran into Shiori-san in the market and gave her a lift, as a thanks she invited me to dinner." Genma answered.

As an answer he only received grunts before Raido said disbelieving, "So it is true, the woman from before is your wife Kakashi?"

"Yeah, I married her two months ago." Kakashi happily supplied while he carefully checked the muscles in his injured arm over.

Raido just shook his head, "Hatake Kakashi is married,… unbelievable."

Genma snorted and said grinningly, "What is unbelievable are Shiori's cooking skills, now get a move on there is a pretty woman and some sweet and sour pork waiting for me."

Kakashi smiled somewhat dangerous, "Careful there, that's my wife."

"Yeah don't I know it. God knows why she has married you." Genma bemoaned playfully while he shook his head mournfully.

The senbon wielders laments only elicited a grunt from Kakashi; he himself still couldn't believe that he had somehow convinced her to become permanently his.

"Well then, see you three later." Kakashi said before he made his way through the house in direction of his pregnant wife.


	24. Chapter 24

**Chapter 24**

Kakashi was tired but thankfully not overly so, the only thing that was really annoying was the pounding headache and his somewhat unsteady feet. The closer he came to the kitchen the more intense the smell of the food became and his stomach growl loudly as an answer. God how he had missed Shiori's cooking. Darkly amused Kakashi shook his head, in the year he had known his wife he had become spoiled concerning food.  
Kakashi leisurely entered the kitchen and then purposely made some noise to alert the black haired civilian to his presence, she was right he shouldn't scare her in her condition, the thought let his lips twitch up into a smug grin.

When Shiori turned around after hearing a noise behind her she couldn't help but smile warmly when she recognized her husband and kiss Kakashi softly, she was glad he was home again. Said copy nin laid his hand discreetly on her stomach and pulled her into another, a bit more enthusiastic kiss before his wife withdrew slightly and scrunched her nose playfully.

"Ugh, right anata please go and take a shower." Shiori said unable to hide the humor in her voice.

Kakashi pouted, "Don't you love me?"

"I do but what I still can't stand your after mission smell, now move." Shiori said playfully while she gave Kakashi a slight shove.

Genma who had watched the whole thing from the library door shook his head, "You two are really sickenly sweet, stop it before I barf." he said dryly.

As an answer he only received a feminine giggle and a rude hand wave in his direction before Kakashi vanished up the stairs into the second floor.

"Could you put the drinks on the table?", Shiori asked Genma while she took out the second portion rice out of the cooker and filled up the two giant service bowls before putting them into the still hot oven to stay heated.

The shinobi did as requested; he liked the fact that Shiori wasn't shy to give him some tasks in her home. It made him feel as if he was more than just some guest who was attended too but who she was clearly not comfortable enough with to order him around somewhat. Ten minutes later Tenzo helped a still peaky looking Raido into the living room.

"Ohayo Namiashi-san, Tenzo-san, I hope you feel better." Shiori greeted the two.

"Inoue-san?" asked Raido disbelieving, "What the,…? You are Kakashi's wife?"

Tenzo looked back at his comrade and asked curious, "You know each other?"

"Fleetingly, Inoue-san is the owner of Mariko's." Raido explained absently to the youngest shinobi present.

"Oh." the twenty two year old ANBU operative with the bloodline of the first Hokage responded while he suddenly understood his comrade's distraction.

So Kakashi's wife was the owner of the tea house that had most of the ANBU operation in a tizzy. He himself hadn't visited yet, but with Shiori being Kakashi-taicho's wife he felt a lot more secure about the new establishment and it's integrity.

"So you go by Inoue in public?" Tenzo asked while he helped Raido to sit down on one of the bar seats and then he slowly walked closer to the civilian beauty bustling around the kitchen to get a full view of Kakashi-senpai's wife.

The Mokuton user had learned throughout his years as ANBU operative how to deal with civilians. They were always a bit skittish when ninjas moved too fast for their tastes and the last thing that he wanted to do was scaring his senpai's wife, Kakashi would surely have his head for that.

"Yes Tenzo-san, Inoue is my maiden name and it keeps anyone from drawing a connection to Kakashi. Namiashi-san, I already have extended the right to use my first name to Tenzo-san and Genma-san, I would appreciate it if you would do it too." Shiori happily explained.

"Sure, and Raido is fine." Raido acquiesced easily while he still tried to wrap his head around the fact that it was Kakashi who had snagged Inoue-san.

A lot of their comrades had a crush on the beautiful civilian but she had never reacted to the subtler attempts to flirt and had gently let down those that had the balls to ask her out directly, well at least Raido now knew why. The kenjutsu user promised himself to intervene the next time some of his more brash friends and comrades tried to convince Shiori to date them. After all he knew his former captain, Kakashi was protective and possessive over whom and what he thought was his and he would not take it kindly if he caught any of the idiots doing something untoward. Raido recalled with an inward sigh that Kakashi also had a convenient selective memory in certain instances and would probably attack the offender at full throttle. The scarred shinobi sighed again this time out loud, why oh why did he have the feeling that sooner or later he would have to run interference between Shiori's over amorous admirers and her possessive husband?

After Shiori finished with seasoning the last dishes she shooed the two injured shinobi to the already set table before she passed Genma the platter with the sweet pork and grabbed one of the rice bowls and the bowl with the tempura and carried it over to the table. A few trips back and forth and table had quickly filled with various dishes and the smell let the shinobi violently recollect their empty stomachs.  
Just as Shiori lifted the big bowl of soup from the burner Kakashi reentered the living room freshly showered, with new clothes and to the astonishment of the two newest members in the know, without a mask. Both Tenzo and Raido sent Kakashi questioning looks at his unusual behavior but decided against voicing anything, Kakashi loved playing mind games and would take their curiosity as an opportunity to tease them.  
Said silver haired ninja made a beeline for his wife, reinforced his injured arm with a bit chakra and removed the heavy soup pot from her hands. Kakashi always took over the heaviest lifting for her when he was at home, be it moving around furniture, stocking up the fire wood or only carrying the heavy plates to the table. He understood that she could easy handle it herself and would do exactly that when he wasn't at home but when he was present he would do his damnest to relieve some of the work from her, especially now that she was pregnant.  
When the Hatake couple had sat down they all dug into the food after thanking Shiori for her hard work which Shiori accepted with a happy smile, the thankful and blissed out faces had been worth the time in the kitchen.

Half way through her first dish, Shiori remembered that she had yet to take her prescriptions and so she stood up with a sigh and walked over to the kitchen counter to remove one pill from each container which Shiori then dry swallowed on her way back to the table. None of the shinobi had missed her actions but they kept their mouths shut for the moment. In the next fifty minutes they cleaned up the food that would have been enough for twenty civilians. After that the shinobi with the exception of Genma looked slightly drowsy and ready to fall asleep. While Genma and Kakashi made quick work of moving the dirty dishes into the sink, Shiori cut up the apple cobbler and stacked it up on two plates before she heated up three pans and started to make pancakes. The sugary dessert helped the ninja to recover some of their alertness and the conversation started to get a bit livelier again.  
Genma in his infinite need to be nosy threw a quick glance at the labels of the drugs Shiori had taken and when all were seated once more and half through dessert he asked nonchalantly.

"So why do you need to take chakra supplements and folic acid?" the question was asked lightly but his worry was clear to his team mates.

Shiori looked questioningly at Kakashi who just nodded discreetly before he took another mouth full of pancake. Shiori thought quickly about how she should pay Genma back for putting her on the spot like this, in the end she decided to just say it out plainly.

"These are the normal prenatal medications for civilians in my position." she said nonchalantly and then smiling serenely.

The reaction was nearly instantaneous, Kakashi kept eating without batting an eyelash while Tenzo and Raido froze in their movements and Genma choked on his cobbler and coughed to remove the pie piece that got lodged in his air pipe. Shiori watched with satisfaction as Genma choked on his dessert, she had timed her answer perfectly.

"Wha-what?" Genma coughed while he tried to get out a full sentence, "Pregnant but,… damn it Kakashi but you move fast." the senbon wielder laughed disbelieving, "You just married her two months ago and then she WASN'T pregnant!", as an answer he only received a smug grin from Kakashi and an eye roll and a blush from Shiori.

Raido and Tenzo looked unsure between their two comrades and Kakashi's wife, who apparently was carrying their former captain's offspring. The scarred shinobi just sighed deeply before he put his head in his hand and shook it. The day was getting more and more surreal, first he found out that his porn reading, die-hard bachelor captain was married and now they were informed that she was pregnant with their first child, Raido knew instantly that Kakashi would be unbearable for the next few months.

"You okay there Raido? You look a little bit crazy." Genma asked humorous having seen his comrades mien.

"I feel like I landed in the Twilight Zone. Shiori-san? Congratulations to your pregnancy. Taicho? Just so that you know. You. Suck." Raido deadpanned.

"Yes, congratulations from me too, Shiori-san, Kakashi-senpai." Tenzo said, while he stilled looked confused and slightly unnerved between his comrades.

Shiori just giggled and gave them a small 'thank you'.

"So, why do you have to take chakra supplements?" Genma finally asked curiously, he had wondered since he had read the label.

"Because I'm a civilian and Kakashi is a Jounin, the baby will strain my own chakra reserves more than is normal or healthy. Through taking the supplements I head off collapsing in exhaustion and having to be monitored in the hospital for the first five months until the majority of the chakra system has developed." Shiori explained frankly.

The black haired civilian had bought books about this topic on the day after Kakashi had started his latest mission and had found out how truly dangerous an inattentiveness in this situation could be for her and the baby.

The news had all four men tensing slightly, especially Kakashi wasn't happy with the additional news, he made a note to check all information available concerning a civilian-Jounin pregnancy. Genma looked just a little bit more serious than he normally did but inwardly he was agitated, he LIKED Shiori and if something happened to her or the baby it would destroy their former ANBU captain, Kakashi really deserved a break after his fucked up childhood and teenager years.  
Radio and Tenzo were concerned too but more on an abstract level, they were paranoid ninja after all and while they trusted into their comrade's instincts, they wanted to form their own opinions about Kakashi's wife. They had to admit that she had already made a very good first impression, she had taken care of their needs without batting an eyelash and her food was delicious, furthermore she had already won Genma over which was not an easy feat as they knew from personal experience.

They finished the dinner in a slightly somber mood, after everyone had stopped eating, Raido and Tenzo returned to the guest room to recover more of their chakra reserves while Kakashi and Shiori said goodbye to Genma and made their way up into their bedroom.  
For the day Shiori left the dishes alone, she would take care of them in the morning. Tired and slightly worried after Shiori's revelations Kakashi led his wife straight to bed and after some cajoling Shiori agreed to join Kakashi in the early bed time. Said silver haired Jounin spooned her throughout the night while his hands kept a possessive grip on her middle.


	25. Chapter 25

**Chapter 25**

The first trimester ended relatively quickly for Shiori, nothing much had changed with the exception that she was a lot more tired than before but regular sleep and afternoon naps balanced that out. Kakashi tended to hover around her now a days, but he looked more like an overbearing teddy bear than anything else and so Shiori didn't get annoyed too much by his behavior. He had also started to cook breakfast every day so that she didn't have to get up and stopped her from doing more than minimal housework.  
Kakashi's former ANBU team with the exception of Gai, who was still on a long term mission, also started to show up more and more often, especially when Kakashi was on a mission and Shiori was alone in the house. At those times it became a regular occurrence that one or more of the shinobi dropped by to check on her.  
A side effect of these more or less regular visits was that Kakashi's former ANBU team had started to stock up her fridge whenever they dropped by. The reason for that was that they all tended to either stay for dinner or get sent home with a doggy bag when they visited Shiori. After the black haired woman had found the fridge filled up for the first few times she had just sighed tiredly and accepted the gesture without further argument, those men could be just as stubborn as Shiori herself and she really didn't have the energy to argue with them about it. Instead she made sure that there were always leftovers in the fridge to send home with one of them.

Shiori had a surprisingly tame first semester, yes she was tired and yes, there were certain smells that made her nauseous and had led to her throwing up once or twice but she didn't hang over the toilet seat like some women did. The change that she did notice more strongly was the increased sensitivity in her breasts and neck; she sometimes couldn't stand Kakashi touching her breasts while at other times she couldn't get enough of it. Her husband thankfully was more than eager to indulge her ever changing wants and needs.  
Around the tenth week Shiori's libido increased exceptionally along with her hormone levels and made her nearly insatiable, every touch or slight brush between the two led to intercourse or other sexual gratification. As it turned out the foetus developed his first chakra gates in the tenth week and for that purpose absorbed chakra from it's surroundings, which included Kakashi when he was in touching distance.

The silver haired Jounin also started a habit of pressing his ear to his wife's stomach to listen to the child in Shiori. With a bit of chakra manipulation he could now pick up the fluttering heart beat and to him it was the most fascinating sound he had ever heard. It was on more than one morning that Shiori awoke with Kakashi pressing his head against her still flat tummy and listening to their baby.

Kakashi's ninken were just as excited as their summoner was, being pack animals they all wanted to take care of Shiori during her vulnerable state and so spent a lot of time in the World of the humans, running perimeter checks around the property and marking it up against other canine intruders.  
The ninken craved physical contact with her, so while she still could get up and around without problems, Shiori made it a point to stretch out on the picnic blanket in the middle of the living room when she was reading a book or taking a nap. This always led sooner or later to her being surrounded by warm dog bodies that had snuggled up to her.

The black haired civilian had also started to slowly withdraw more and more from the tea house, she was now only once every five days or so present and then only for a few hours. The reason for that was that Himawatari-sensei had warned her from spending too much time standing or walking around, especially after she had entered her second trimester. While her ninja guests and her personnel wondered about her absences nobody voiced anything directly to her. Shiori took this break from her normal duties in the tea house to get a got look at the books and also work through the accumulated paperwork in her new office.  
At the beginning of her second trimester Shiori finally informed Sora, Ai and Emiko about her pregnancy; after all they would need to take care of everything when she became unable to do it herself. Her three head workers were out of their depths for the first few moments after Shiori had given them the news, none of them had been aware that she was in a relationship. When Shiori confirmed a grinning Ai's question if the father was a shinobi, her employees suddenly understood her need for discretion promised to keep her pregnancy a secret.  
From then on all three of them had a close eye on the amount of work Shiori was doing and had no qualms to send her home more than once so that she couldn't overexert herself. The rest of her staff clearly knew that something was up but they didn't mention it to their customers or in her direct presence. They had been drilled long enough now to be discreet and it started to show in everything that they were doing. As a result quite a lot of the single service staff had started relationships with ninja.

When during Shiori's fourteenth week her figure started to change nearly unnoticeable, Kakashi spent every free minute worshipping her body. There was nothing more fascinating to him then the continuing growth of their child. He wasn't the only one to be honest; she had caught the other members of Kakashi's former ANBU team glancing speculatively at her middle more than once. But none of them even dared to entertain the thought of touching her stomach, especially not since the incident when Kakashi growled threateningly at Raido for steadying Shiori when she had overbalanced. The silver haired shinobi had looked just as astonished as the rest of the room but then had simply shrugged and said 'Instincts' without the slightest bit of remorse or embarrassment and had pulled Shiori into his arms and out of reach of the other males. To calm Kakashi down Shiori had bared her neck for him and let him do whatever he wanted with her for the next ten minutes before she threw him out of the house with Genma to buy some more groceries. Inwardly she could only shake her head laughing, she was glad that Pakkun and the rest of the ninken had started to explain more about their instincts and how their bond with Kakashi noticeable influenced his behavior in certain ways, especially now that she was pregnant and Kakashi was constantly high from her hormones.

With the beginning of the second trimester Shiori also had suddenly a lot of time on her hands thanks to her decreased hours in the tea house and the fact that Kakashi refused to let her do more than cooking and a bit of garden work. And so the mother-to-be had started to search for new projects to occupy her time with, one of them was their finances and other affairs. Since their marriage they hadn't really changed anything concerning their finances with the exception that Kakashi had added Shiori to his will and bank accounts and had increased the amount for paying for the up keep of the house. The black haired civilian now did the same thing and updated her will with an extra clause for her unborn child. After that she turned to their finances and finally started to invest the money of her husband into ventures that looked promising. Shiori also set up a savings account for her child in which a monthly payment from both their accounts would go.  
Another project of Shiori's was the back yard and the woods around it, after initially planting the bushes and vegetables about a year ago she had only done a bit maintenance, now that she had nothing but time the blue eyed woman added new plants and also started to map out the woods behind the garden. On her long walks she was always accompanied by at least a part of Kakashi's pack.

The first time Shiori distinctly felt her baby kicking was during her seventeenth week. She was outside in the sun when she suddenly felt this unmistakable flutter in her stomach, since then her unborn child had been more or less actively exercising in her belly. Overall Shiori could feel the movements becoming stronger with each week until Kakashi could also feel their baby kicking during her nineteenth week. When their shinobi friends had dropped by on the same day Raido had asked Shiori in a serious voice if Kakashi was on some kind of strong pain medication because the grin that had split his face had seriously creeped out his comrades.

During her twentieth week of her pregnancy, Shiori ran across a just returned Gai after walking back from a visit at her teahouse. The green clad shinobi lost balance at the sight of her slightly protruding stomach and after checking that nobody was present profusely congratulated her to her pregnancy. Shiori thanked the eccentric ninja for his kind words and invited him to dinner the following day.  
On that evening Kakashi's former ANBU cell was finally completely in attendance and Shiori laughed tears while watching the antics between them. Gai was easily absorbed in the unspoken guard duty of the pregnant Shiori. The green clad shinobi was quite happy that there was once more a regular contact between his former ANBU team mates. Like the other shinobi he too quickly learned to enjoy Shiori's delicious food and pleasant company.

When Shiori brought up the preparing of the baby's room a week after Gai's return, she was suddenly confronted with five overeager ninja who were reading baby catalogs. The first time she had seen the tough as nails shinobi seriously discussing the different benefits of baby beds she had to sit down because she laughed so hard.  
On the other hand the over eagerness of the males in her life also led to the bedroom diagonal across from the master bedroom being painted and furnished completely in one day. Shiori had thankfully put down her foot and had chosen a calming and gender neutral yellow instead of a color like frog green as Gai suggested.  
In the next months the room was filled with soft blankets and plush toys the five excited ninja brought back with them from their missions. And in typical ninja fashion Genma and Gai had started a competition about who brought the better presents back, it got out of hand so much that Shiori had to outright ban them from buying presents until the baby was born. Raido and Kakashi had watched grinning while Shiori had set ground rules for the two pouting shinobi. In the mean time Tenzo had stood aside and shook his head at his senpais antics. While he listened to Shiori putting her foot down he already went over the wood toys he could make for the youngest Hatake in the coming years.


	26. Chapter 26

**Chapter 26**

And then a week after the baby room was finished the female Hatake found out the gender of her baby. Himawatari-sensei informed an excited Shiori that she was having a little girl and that the baby was healthy and right on track concerning her growth. The mother-to-be walked dazed out of the practice while she repeated the news over and over in her head. A girl, a sweet little baby girl that would have traits of both her and Kakashi. Dizzy with happiness Shiori hurried home.

When she arrived at the compound she was greeted by a chuckling Kakashi who was shaking his head at his pack. It seemed as if Urushi and Bisuke had ganged up on Bull,… well at least tried to gang up on Bull, the giant dog sat in his usual sun spot and was ignoring the two smaller dogs that were trying to animate him to movement.  
Shiori hummed contently and sat down on their newest set of garden furniture curtsey of Tenzo. The blue eyed civilian stretched her legs a bit before straightening her back to prevent the worsening of her back pains and then turned to her husband that just brought a pitcher with water and to glasses from the house. Kakashi filled a glass for her before turning around to watch his pack that was scattered all over the back yard, his lips were twitching while he witnessed how the younger members of his pack tried to entice the older ones in a game of catch.

Slightly distracted and with his back to Shiori the silver haired Jounin asked, "I take it everything was fine?"

"Yes, the baby is right on track and there aren't any problems." Shiori answered warmly before she took another sip of her drink and then said innocently, "By the way, painting the nursery yellow was a good idea,… after all we are having a daughter."

The normally so unflappable man at first didn't seem to register what Shiori said and only hhmed in agreement before his whole body stiffened and he turned his head so fast around that Shiori could hear something in his spine cracking. In front of Shiori the silver haired shinobi stumbled slightly and had to grip on the back of the wooden bench before he sacked onto the seating and stared at her with a slightly open mouth. His gob smacked mouth undid any self control Shiori had left and she laughed happily while she patted Kakashi's arm reassuringly, well at least he didn't faint was the only thing that ran through the reincarnation's head while she continued to watch her husband's reaction.

He was having a daughter; this thought repeated itself again and again in Kakashi's head while his mind was trying to make sense of what he had just heard. This was the confirmation that the little being inside Shiori really existed. Of course Kakashi had intellectually known that they were having a baby on the way. He had noticed the change of hormones, the tiny sounds from the heartbeat as well as Shiori's slowly expanding figure, but until that moment it was always 'the baby', something still too abstract to realize, but now, now it was different.  
Kakashi felt how his lips slowly turned up into a gentle smile while his eyes searched for his wife's bulging belly that was slightly obscured by the table between them. Kakashi stood up and rounded said table while his eyes never left Shiori's middle. That was his little baby girl inside there, he thought giddily while he tried to imagine how she would look like one day, would she have Shiori's black hair or his silver? What color would her eyes have? Would she have her mother's enticing figure?... Suddenly Kakashi's elated mood ended abruptly.  
He was having a daughter, a sweet little girl that one day would grow up and have boys chasing after her,… oh crap what was he going to do?

"You are never, ever going to be allowed to date." Kakashi spoke seriously to Shiori's stomach while he cautiously stroked over the warm and hard ball.

Shiori snorted, "Honey calm down, she isn't even born yet."

"That doesn't matter, I read that babies are pretty aware even during the pregnancy, better to set some ground rules early." Kakashi said calmly while he looked up at his wife determinedly.

Shiori only laughed as an answer and kissed him on the forehead, Kakashi was hilarious in his denial of their unborn daughter's dating record. For the rest of the day she had the pleasure to see the normally so calm and collected Jounin look dazed and far away.

The dinner invitation for Kakashi's colleagues had turned into a weekly thing in the last month, whoever was in the village at that time dropped by to join the Hatake couple for dinner. On that particular evening all of them were in attendance and so the soon-to-be parents used the opportunity and informed their friends about the gender of their child. Kakashi, who had pulled himself together in the last few hours enjoyed the stunned face just as much as Shiori did and while Gai and Tenzo were frozen stiff for quite some time, Raido and Genma recovered pretty fast.

"So, any ideas concerning the little princesses name?" Genma asked curiously after congratulating the Hatake pair.

Both soon-to-be-parents shook their heads while they looked at each other in askance, neither of them had thought about the name yet.

"Well, Genma is a good name for a girl." the senbon wielder supplied helpfully.

"No." both Hatake's deadpanned at the same time.

"I hate to tell you this my friend, but Genma is definitely a boy's name unless you want to tell us something." Kakashi added while he raised an eyebrow at his comrade.

Said man just grinned and shrugged his shoulders, it was worth a try.

The rest of the four months left of her pregnancy, Shiori spent primarily in her home with a few visits to the doctor, the tea house and the market. Shiori was most of the time visited by either her husband's colleagues or her employees who all were in the know now.  
Shiori had been the last time at the tea house with twenty four weeks, her work kimono hid her baby bump pretty well, especially now that she wore it slightly less tight, but she had seen quite a few of the more paranoid or specialized shinobis' eyebrows wander up while they stared at her middle. Shiori was pretty sure that while nobody had spoken it out loud, at least a large part of the Tokubetsu Jounin and up were aware of her pregnancy.

During Shiori's seventh month Sora brought the fact that quite few restaurants and merchants had approached them about selling her recipe to them and had even tried to bribe it out of some of the employees. Thankfully none of Shiori's employees had felt even the slightest bit seduced by the various offers. The reason for that was that Shiori's strict selection criteria concerning her employees as well as the sense of importance concerning discretion that her training had instilled into them, they all took too much pride in their jobs at Mariko's to fall for these attempts. It also didn't hurt that thanks to Shiori's generous wages they were all financial safe and their families taken care of.  
After the first shock about these bribing efforts left Shiori, a smirking Sora continued to tell her how one of the foreign merchants who had tried to pressure one of the younger kitchen workers into relieving the secrets had been taken to T&I when one of the members of the division had caught him harassing the girl in a side street, since than not a single employee had been approached by anyone.  
Shiori had been stunned at this before laughing tears at the story, when she had calmed down again she brought up the idea of perhaps setting up contracts with other restaurants to sell her desserts through them. Sora had nodded thoughtfully to this but had cautioned her to push the idea back at least for another half a year so that she would be recovered enough to do the negotiations herself. The pregnant civilian had frowned a bit but in the end just nodded to this, Sora was right.  
A few days after Sora's visit the black haired woman was visited by another group, this time some of her youngest employees, under them was Suzuki the kitchen worker that had been harassed. When Shiori asked concerned if she really was okay, the bright sixteen year old had just grinned and admitted that she was now going out with said T&I member that had rescued her and was pretty happy. She also told Shiori how she had had a relationship with a shinobi before this one but how she had never understood why her ex-boyfriend had done certain things differently than a civilian man. Suzuki confessed that she had felt awful after realizing what a colossal bitch she had been to him and had visited her ex-boyfriend to apologize for her behavior back then.  
Shiori was glad that Suzuki seemed to have found someone that suited her and the two were happy. The black haired soon-to-be mother listened contently while her bubbly employee told her about how Suzuki's new boyfriend had interested her into psychology and how she had started to implement the things she had read into her behavior at the tea house and the reactions she had drawn with it.

Concerning her baby girl's development Himawatari-sensei was very happy with Shiori following her exact instructions about plenty of rest and keeping off her feet. The civilian's overall health was also pretty good and so the gynecologist gave her plenty of praise throughout the last months of Shiori's pregnancy.

When asked where she wanted to have her child, Shiori had reacted unsure, she wanted to have medical supervision at all costs but she also wanted Kakashi to be with her when she had the child.  
Seeing her indecision, Himawatari-sensei offered Shiori to act as her midwife in her own home and to be sworn to silence about the father of the child. As still fully certified medic nin, the gynecologist could also fill out the birth certificate and file it in Shiori's folder without anyone else seeing it. Shiori promised to talk this over with her husband before giving a final decision.

Unknowingly the civilian's slip confirmed Etsuko's suspicion and the medic nin couldn't help but be curious about who the elusive husband of her patient was.

When confronted with the choice the Hatake couple decided to have a home birth with Himawatari-sensei as the attending medic. And so the retired medic-nin was introduced to Kakashi on the following day when she was invited to Shiori's home to talk over the steps of a house birth and the needed supplies for it. Finding out that Hatake Kakashi was Shiori-san's partner was quite the surprise to Etsuko.

The retired kunoichi tried to keep her bewilderment under wraps although the amused glance that Hatake-Jounin had sent her made it more than clear that it wasn't working, at least not concerning him. Who would have known that behind the uncaring bachelor facade was a downright possessive and overprotective husband and soon-to-be father?... Now that she was thinking about it, this made perfect sense, because who would think that the in public porn reading and confirmed bachelor Hatake Kakashi had a family hidden away? No one.  
Shaking her head and grinning the whole way back to her home she contemplated the mysteries of life. In the ninja world you really had to look underneath the underneath and even then you sometimes found even more surprises. On another note, Etsuko knew that she would have to search as covertly as she could through the hospital records for notes on the Hatake family. She had noticed the way Hatake-Jounin circled his wife and seemed to test the air for any disturbances and threats. The retired medic nin wanted to be prepared for all eventualities and as far as she had seen now a house birth was probably the safest thing concerning this baby.  
Wryly the woman shook her head, and that was not for the baby's sake but more for the sake of the idiot that moved too close to Hatake-Jounin's vulnerable family without his expressive permission.


	27. Chapter 27

**Chapter 27**

Hatake Hinako _(Hi=sun, na=vegetables, ko=child)_ was born on the fourth of July at nine o'clock in the morning, nearly a week too early. Shiori had been having contractions for six hours before the bearing-down pains came and they could greet their little girl for the first time.  
Himawatari-sensei had arrived shortly after six in the morning when Kakashi had tracked her down, anxious about leaving Shiori alone in the house with only his ninken as protection. The retired medic nin had since then checked her dilation process periodically but had left the couple alone for the most part before shortly after nine the really painful contractions began and Shiori was dilated enough to start pushing. The gynecologist later told the young mother she had a very easy and fast birth for a first born, a clan child at that.

When the first contractions started around three in the morning Shiori thought that she had the Braxton hicks once more, like the week before. When the uncomfortable feeling only increased instead of decreasing and then her water broke, the nearly nineteen year old finally gave an anxious looking Kakashi the okay to alert Himawatari-sensei. In the mean time the nearly nineteen year old had kept as calm and collected as she did everything in life. Her gynecologist later wryly shared with her that the gaggle of shinobi down in her living room that had been arriving sometime after Himawatari-sensei had been a lot more nervous and jumpy than Shiori.

Kakashi on the other hand had, while being more than a bit frustrated about the fact that he couldn't do anything about Shiori's obvious pain, started to emulate his wife's calm and collected posture on the outside. He did this instinctively to not stress her even more than she already was. Of course his tensed muscles and nearly grey skin color clearly spoke a complete different language.

Himawatari-sensei had been relieved when everything was over, she had found in the archives of the hospital that the Hatake males reacted to the behavior of their mates and that a panicked and in pain Hatake female induced a berserker like state in them. So Shiori's calm nature was the best thing that could happen to Hatake-Jounin and everybody around him. Though Etsuko had to concede that the shinobi waiting on the first floor would have probably been able to restrain him if worst came to worst.

Starting shortly before seven in the morning the gaggle of Jounin arrived at the Hatake household after Shiori's husband had sent out one of his ninken. Etsuko could only shake her head at the men that she knew had normally nerves of steel. When she had been on the first floor to get herself a quick snack one of Shiori's stronger contractions had hit and she hadn't been able to suppress the shout completely. The shinobi around her had tensed and Shiranui-san who normally always had a joke on hand had looked white as a sheet before he had gulped down some sake directly from one of the bottles that littered the dining room table, the others hadn't looked any better.

Kakashi later couldn't say how long Shiori's labor had lasted or what exactly he had been doing throughout that time, the only thing that he could recall in perfect detail was when he was handed his daughter.  
Himawatari-sensei had washed and checked his little girl over while he still sat with Shiori, both of their eyes had never left the small pink bundle in the medic hands. When the woman had moved over to them and presented the baby to Kakashi he had felt his hands shaking when he had reached for the little bundle that was his daughter. The silver haired Jounin could feel the warmth Hinako radiated through the blanket and her small squirms only reaffirmed that she was alive and apparently healthy, what Kakashi had felt at that moment was indescribable and he had only been able to wordlessly stare down at the being the two had created together.

"She is perfect isn't she?" asked the exhausted but happy Shiori.

"She is so tiny." Kakashi said quietly, he was still in awe from the small red being in his arms.

"She will grow and one day we will wonder where the time went." Shiori said tiredly while she first kissed Kakashi and then their newborn daughter's head.

"Are you okay?" Kakashi wanted to know concernedly, he could smell Shiori's tiredness and exhaustion.

"I'm better than okay, now go on and show her to the idiots down there, I'm sure they are working each other into a frenzy by now." Shiori said wryly.

"Are you sure?" Kakashi asked slightly unsure, he didn't want to leave his wife alone up here.

"Don't worry, Himawatari-sensei is here to take care of me." Shiori reassured while she gently pushed at his back.

"She is right Hatake-san, I will check her over and help her change. You can show your daughter to your comrades, your wife will soon be ready to see visitors." Etsuko agreed with her patient while she moved closer to the new mother.

Nodding Kakashi slowly wandered from the master bedroom down into the living room. As soon as he had entered the living room, the men that were getting plastered at nine in the morning at his dining table jumped up to come closer.

"Is that?" Raido whispered, while his right hand nervously stroked through his hair.

"Guys, this is Hatake Hinako, my first born daughter." Kakashi said in a hushed voice with a small grin on his lips.

This grin was emulated by the rest of the former ANBU cell while they studied the pink, wrinkled baby with the fine tuft of silver hair. Gai opened his mouth as if to say something before he closed it once more, his eyes never left the small miracle in his rival's arms.

"Congratulations Kakashi! How is Shiori-san?" Genma beamed at his friend, he was relieved that everything had worked out and he could practically feel the color returning into his face.

"She is fine, just tired, Himawatari-sensei is helping her to clean up, you should be able to see her in a few minutes." Kakashi told them, his grin didn't leave his face.

"God that was not fun, her suppressed screams and moans made me feel worse than the time the medics had to remove the katana from my lower spine." Genma said with a slight green face, around him the shinobi nodded.

"Oh god! Don't remind me!" Tenzo said horrified, he had been the one who had to hold Genma down before the medics could numb the area and start to work at fixing his teammate, the senbon wielder had been lucky to not have any spinal damage, it was a very close call.

Brought out of his musings the senbon wielder looked speculatively at Kakashi before asking death defying, "So,… can I hold her?".

Kakashi looked at him for a long time before he pressed out, "DON'T let her fall."

Genma gulped and slowly stretched out his hands in Kakashi's direction, when he had the bundle securely in his hands and peered down on the little girl he said astonished, "She is even lighter than I thought.", before he carefully tugged her closer to his body.

Around him the battle hardened men shook their heads while they grinned like fools at the tiny newborn, then one after the other got to hold her before she returned to the secure arms of her father.

When Kakashi turned slightly to the side his eyes landed on his pack, who just returned from their latest patrol around the property. His ninken didn't say anything but their eyes were transfixed on the bundle in his arms. With a warm chuckle Kakashi smoothly sat down on the floor and arranged his arms to give Pakkun and the rest a better view at his daughter. The pack took in Hinako's smell of newborn and vulnerability and settled around Kakashi while they watched the tiny limbs flail in side of the blanket.

"The pup smells healthy and strong." Pakkun growled while laid his head down on one of Kakashi's knees.

"Yeah, Himawatari-sensei says that she has seen rarely such a healthy baby from a civilian-Jounin relationship." Kakashi confirmed while he slowly ran down his thumb over Hinako's arm and hand.

The silver haired Jounin breathed in loudly when he felt the reflexive grip around his thumb from his baby girl. She was utterly amazing in his eyes.

The group of shinobi stayed for another hour after that, long enough to visit Shiori and congratulate her before they and Himawatari-sensei left the young family alone.

Kakashi moved Shiori down onto the sofa in the living room to relax for the rest of the day, he then returned and quickly removed the protective plastic sheet they had put under the linen as a precaution from the bed and changed the bedding. After that the silver haired shinobi returned to his young family. Just in time to see Shiori's first attempt at breast feeding their daughter. It took Shiori three tries to place their daughter right but then Hinako latched on and a small content smile stole itself on Shiori's face while she watched their daughter feed, when their little girl was finished she nearly instantly fell asleep after Shiori burped her.

"You are amazing." Kakashi spoke from behind the young mother while he leaned over the back of the couch, his deep voice reverberated through Shiori's body.

Shiori looked up at Kakashi and closed her eyes when he kissed her.

"We did it. We are parents." Shiori said somewhat giddy.

Kakashi chuckled, "You are going to be an amazing mother. You were so calm through the whole time and never even panicked once."

"I didn't have the time or the patience to work myself into a frenzy, I hurt, I was uncomfortable and I only wanted to finally have our baby in my arms." Shiori stated amused while she looked up at Kakashi, before her eyes turned softer and she asked, "Sit down with us?"

Kakashi hhmed and carefully sat down beside her, his right hand softly stroked over Hinako's baby hair and soft skin, before he put both arms around Shiori, who instantly relaxed into his embrace, the three of them stayed like this for quite some time.

In the next few days, the young parents learned how to correctly change diapers and that a baby was always hungry and demanding their attention twenty four hours a day. Kakashi also learned how to block his sensitive nose with a simple chakra exercise to also be able to change diapers and relieve his wife somewhat. The sleep deprivation took a toll on both of them but especially Shiori was suffering because she was unaccustomed to it, Kakashi had learned to deal with sleep deprivation before he had even hit ten years and his conscious chakra circulation also helped him alleviate the worst.  
When Kakashi was called in for a mission ten days after Hinako was born he looked so defeated when he had to leave the two of them behind that it nearly broke Shiori's heart. She told him that they would be fine and that he should just concentrate on his mission and coming back to them. At least the presence of his ninken and the fact that Raido would be in the village during his mission gave him some reassurance that his wife and daughter would be fine. When Kakashi returned three days later, he was more than relieved to find both happy and healthy.

Three weeks into his fatherhood Kakashi finally decided to inform the Hokage about his family. For that purpose he chose a day on which he had to hand over the quarterly ANBU reports to the Hokage to sign and return them to the ANBU HQ, it was one of the compromises he had agreed to when he had retired officially from his ANBU duty. On his way through the mostly empty corridors Kakashi hid a picture of Shiori and the just born Hinako inside the first page of the report.

Kakashi entered with his normal lazy posture and handed over the report to his Hokage, the old man's sharp eyes lingered on his Jounin's minimally different body language and was instantly on high alert and concentrated when he opened the front page of the report to find the photo. The Sandaime Hokage revealed nothing through body language or chakra consistency, Hiruzen's poker face was probably the best in the village and had fooled generations of enemies of Konoha. The 'Professor' quickly signed the papers before handing it once more over to Kakashi. Said retired ANBU walked out of the Hokage office to return the reports and covertly removed the picture of his family the same way he had slipped it between the pages.

Some hours later after leaving the Hokage office, Hiruzen dismissed his ANBU guards and shunshined to Kakashi's named address. The Hokage was greeted by a slightly run down and dusty flat with one of his most loyal shinobi standing in the middle of it before said ninja inclined his head.

Hiruzen smiled wryly, "Is there something I should know Kakashi?"

"Hokage-sama." Kakashi just acknowledged before he took out the picture that Hiruzen had briefly seen between the pages of the ANBU report and handed it over to the Sarutobi clan head.

The old Hokage took a closer look at the glowing woman on the photo and instantly recognized Inoue Shiori, the owner of Mariko's with a newborn infant in her arms.

"So you have a … girlfriend? And a child." the Hokage tried to clarify.

The fact that Kakashi had a family was still a bit mind boggling to him, they were probably also the reason why he had left ANBU eleven months ago.

"Wife." Kakashi clarified.

"Ah. Since when?" chuckled the older shinobi.

"We married in July. The certificates are in my file under a genjutsu." Kakashi said warmly.

Sarutobi realized that Kakashi had quit ANBU nearly at the same time and had probably used the week of vacation to spend some time with his new wife.

"And how old is your child?" the old Hokage wanted to know, the warm smile that he sent the younger man reassured Kakashi that he hadn't done anything wrong with concealing his family.

"Three weeks old and it's a girl. We named her Hinako." Kakashi couldn't help the stupid grin that broke over his face.

Sarutobi just chuckled and shook his head, this was probably the biggest surprise of the year, Hatake Kakashi was married and had a little daughter. He was curious how he would handle fatherhood, than Hiruzen sobered a bit.

"Keeping your family a secret was probably a good idea." the old Hokage acknowledged with a wary sigh, "Kakashi-san, I want you to be careful around the council, especially around Danzo. He has taken up a form of Root once more and while I can't prove it I know that he has been stealing clan children and orphans. Furthermore he has also started to discredit possible Hokage candidates. I'm not sure if he does this to become the next Hokage himself or for another reason all together but this means you are on his radar, so be careful."

Hiruzen saw the younger man in front of him tense his muscles and nod stiffly, something primal and dangerous sparked behind that single grey eye, in that moment the Sandaime was sure that Kakashi would fight the old war hawk to death before he let him come too close to his family.

"I will keep him as busy as I can but keep an eye on your family." Sarutobi said while he nodded at the Hatake clan head.

"I will, Shiori and Hinako are everything to me." Kakashi stated calmly.

"Good, and Kakashi? Congratulations to your fatherhood, I know you will make a great father." Hiruzen said with a smile before he shunshined back to the Sarutobi clan compound where his ANBU guards waited.


	28. Chapter 28

**Hi, I think I have to explain something concerning Shiori, a few of you have pointed out again and again that they miss the SI part of her thoughts – okay here is what I think to the topic – At the beginning of the story (FIRST CHAPTER) I wrote that Shiori won over Eliza – so in my mind this is Shiori's life and while she is essentially the same there ARE some differences in their personalities (Nature vs. Nurture, anyone?) and while Shiori has benefitted from Eliza's common sense and makes use of some of the memories of her former life she doesn't access it all the time, it's more of a vague feeling in the back of her mind if she doesn't consciously concentrate on the memories. Furthermore I don't think the human mind is capable of dealing with such a situation head on without seriously damaging one's sanity, so to not lose her grip on reality Shiori is unconsciously suppressing parts of her former life, like her feelings concerning the people she loved in that life. I mean I personally would go nuts if I would have to acknowledge that I could never see my family or friends again. Shiori's is coping with her subconscious loneliness through taking care of others and creating her own family in this life. – For those who still want her thoughts on that topic you can relax, I already wrote 1000+ words in her POV on this topic (it will be most likely in CHAPTER 30). :D**

**Ages:**

**Hinako: 7 months  
Shiori: 19  
Yugao: 20  
Hayate: 21  
Tenzo: 22  
Anko: 23  
Kakashi, Gai: 25  
Asuma, Kurenai: 26  
Genma: 28  
Raido: 31**

**Chapter 28**

With the ominous warning of the Hokage still in his ear, Kakashi decided to expand his pack and train up some more ninken so that he could leave a few of them always with his young family. So in the next few months three half grown ninken joined the pack. Shiro, Zeke and Manta were crossbreeds and by looking at them you couldn't tell anything specific about their ancestors, Kakashi even suspected some wolf in them. The three were boisterous and still had to get tracking down to an art but they were smart and quickly picking up the human language now that they had joined his pack and spent quite a lot of time in his home. Especially Shiori assisted with that skill, the three young dogs would often spend their free time around his wife and listen to her while she sung to their daughter or read her a story. After an initial trial period Kakashi also reluctantly let them closer to Hinako. With a baby in the house his instincts were screaming to get rid of the intruders and that particular feeling only went away slowly while he started to accept them as pack mates.

The first months of Hinako's life will be remembered by the Hatake household and extensions as one of the most harrowing, satisfying and sometimes plain terrifying times in their life. The one that had the most fun out of them all was probably Shiori, the civilian got to see how grown elite ninja tried to master changing diapers or bath time.  
At the end of Hinako's fifth month she had photos from Genma being peed on, Gai standing helplessly in the back yard while Hinako tugged hard and quite painful on his hair, Raido covered in baby vomit after he forgot to burp Hinako and Tenzo being drooled on. The blackmail possibilities were endless and so Shiori made sure to hide the pictures in the back of the photo frame with the photo in which Kakashi lay on the couch with Hinako on his stomach, both taking a nap.

Hinako was seven months old when Kakashi finally introduced Anko, Kurenai, Asuma, Hayate and Yugao to his family.  
He had decided that he needed to increase the contact to his comrades as subtle as possible so that if it ever came to a show down between him and Danzo, they would be firmly on his side of the playfield. Kakashi had no intentions of becoming Hokage, he had seen how much work and personal sacrifice the title brought with it and he could do without that, he wanted to be there when Hinako started Academy and not be chained to a desk with too much paperwork on it.  
Still, against a foe like Danzo Kakashi would need every help he could get. With careful calculated moves he reentered the Jounin scene that he had avoided as much as possible after Minato's death and his elevation to ANBU operative. He started to fresh up his acquaintances and even went out for drinks for a few times with them, even though he would prefer to be at home with his wife and daughter, the novelty of having a family still hadn't worn off.  
It had taken the silver haired Jounin five months to reestablish his presence in Konoha's elite ranks and the reason why it took this long was that he wanted to avoid attracting attention of the wrong kind. Though Kakashi still had to concede slightly embarrassed that the Naras most likely knew that he was up to something, the look Shikaku-sama had sent him the last time they had met on one of the hallways had spoken volumes. The Hokage on the other hand had only looked amused and approving the few times he had directly reported to him.  
But back to the reason he had chosen that particular group of ninja to introduce his family next to, Kakashi run enough missions with each of them to be pretty sure about their priorities and quirks, Asuma was also the closest thing to a friend that the silver haired prodigy had after his old ANBU team.

All five ninja in question had been curious and quite a bit suspicious when one of their more elusive colleagues had invited them to his home shortly after the New Year celebration. When he started to lead them to the outskirts of Konoha instead of his flat in the shinobi apartment complex close to the city center the confusion only increased, Anko and Kurenai were also annoyed because they had counted on only a short walk from the mission center and hadn't brought their jackets with them. Kakashi finally came to a halt in front of a small side gate that belonged to a walled off property that they recognized as a typical small Konoha clan compound. None of them had an idea what was going on but they followed Kakashi through it. Behind the eight foot tall brick wall was a small cluster of houses with a two story main house in the back. The houses were surrounded by trees on three sides which gave the place a lot of privacy because from the outside it looked like the remnants of an old property line after which the most outer ring of Konoha trees began. If you didn't know exactly what you were looking for the place could be easily overseen. When they came closer to the main house some of Kakashi's ninken popped up from between the trees. Hayate just wanted to ask when Kakashi had purchased this property when said man winked them into the generous sized house; inside they were greeted by a sight they had never expected.  
They of course all knew Inoue-san from her tea house and while she had been present less and less since the opening none of the ninja now staring at the scene in front of them had thought this strange and had chalked it up as Shiori enjoying her well earned money and leaving the serving to her staff. That it was because the young silver haired toddler crawling on a baby blanket on the floor had crossed nobodies mind.

"I-is that,… I mean, is that Kakashi-san's?" Hayate stuttered out while he coughed into his hand.

Shiori grinned, "Yes, this is Hatake Hinako, it's nice to see you again Gekkou-san."

"Likewise Inoue-san, I mean,…?" Hayate was unsure what to call her.

"Shiori is fine, I go by my maiden name in public to avoid attracting attention." Shiori explained while she put the final ingredients into the large pot, lunch would be ready in less than ten minutes.

"Understandable. I have to say I would have never expected something like this from Kakashi-san." Kurenai said torn between disbelief and amusement while she watched the civilian in front of her. So a Yamato Nadeshiko was Kakashi's type? She had always wondered.

Shiori's lips twitched while she smiled at the red eyed woman in front of her, "That is kind of why Kakashi likes to act in a certain way in public."

"God damn, just god damn, do you have to spring something like this on us, Hatake?" Asuma complained while he shook his head in disbelieve.

Kakashi eye-smiled at the Sarutobi, "You sound just like Genma."

"Who sounds like me?" came from the back door.

Hinako squealed when she saw the senbon wielding shinobi standing in the library door and crawled or more robbed on her belly as fast as she could over to him. With a quick movement Genma took out the long needle from his mouth and put it into one of his side holsters before he squatted down and took Hinako into his arms.

"Hello there princess, are you shocking people again?" the brunette asked amused before he nodded at his comrades in the room.

Hinako's little hands came up to his cheeks and mouth and patted them before she pointed at Kakashi and squealed, "Tou, Tou."

Genma's eyebrow rose, "She is speaking already?"

"She just started two days ago to make some sense, didn't you sweetheart?" Shiori laughed at her young daughter.

As an answer she received another screech and a chanted, "Kaa, kaa, kaa."

"Damn, she is fucking adorable." Anko grinned while she shook her head at the sight of her favorite tea house owner's daughter.

When Anko had first visited Mariko's she knew that she had hit the jackpot. This was not only a place where she could indulge into her favorite hobby aka tea ceremonies, had an excellent and exotic dessert selection which was to die for, but also fulfilled all the requirements for a paranoid ninja to relax somewhat their guard and the staff was nothing but polite and courteous. The snake chunin could still remember the day she had returned from a three month long mission and Yugao had urged her to visit. Her personal miracle place had sprouted out of the ground during her intel mission and had instantly become one of her favorite haunts in Konoha.

That Shiori now had a kid with Kakashi was interesting. Anko wondered if the adorable little toddler in Genma's arms was an accident or if Kakashi had knocked up the woman on purpose. After all she knew the conniving bastard in front of her, he was one of the most unreadable shinobi that she had ever encountered, oh he was loyal to Konoha and had a firm moral code but he did absolutely NOTHING without a damn good reason.  
That Genma was here made sense, he was after all a part of Kakashi's old ANBU cell but why had Mr. Paranoid invited them? She could understand Asuma, maybe also Hayate but her and the girls? Don't get her wrong Anko felt honored that Kakashi trusted her with the knowledge of his family, but something wasn't right. Unwilling to call her comrade out in front of the civilian Anko kept her mouth shut, she would see how the lunch went and then corner the silver haired Jounin sometime in the following week.  
Coming out of her thoughts Anko witnessed how Hinako became squirrely in Genma's arms and the senbon wielder sat her down again where she then determinedly made her way over to a surprised Asuma. Stubbornly the toddler pulled herself up on his leg and then put her arms up in the universal gesture that she wanted to be lifted. Absentmindedly Anko noted that for such a small thing, Hinako was quite fast.

The Wind user chuckled while he shook his head at the antics of the little girl in front of him, but he did give in and bent down to carefully pick her up. Asuma's grip was slightly awkward on the small body, he hadn't been in Konoha during his nephew's toddler years and so he was unsure how to hold her without letting her drop.

A snort escaped the Sarutobi while he cataloged the big blue eyes and cute baby face, it was so like Kakashi to have a pretty baby, "Demanding little thing aren't you?" escaped his lips while his eyes landed on the onesie with the cartoon dog on the front.

"You have no idea." Shiori sighed wryly, "And I can't even fault her for that, her father and uncles respond to her every whim.", this time Shiori grinned in Kakashi's and Genma's direction.

Both shrugged unapologetic, they knew they were whipped by the little toddler and didn't even mind one bit.

Asuma chortled disbelieving and turned his attention to his younger comrade, he would have never expected Kakashi to have a woman and or a daughter, but here he was now, holding said child in his arms. The Sarutobi paid for his brief inattention with pain; the adorable little silver haired toddler in his arms suddenly grabbed onto his beard and violently pulled on it.


	29. Chapter 29

**Chapter 29**

"Ouch." came the pained groan from the wind user.

Asuma winced while he held onto the little girl to not let her fall and simultaneously tried to detangle her hand from his beard. His colleagues were no help, they were just laughing hysterically at his misfortune, at last Shiori-san came to his rescue.

"Hinako-chan, NO." Shiori said firmly when she stood only two steps away from him and surprisingly the toddler stopped in her tracks and looked wide eyed at her mother.

"No." the civilian reinforced a second time and gently separated Hinako-chan's hand from Asuma's beard but didn't take her daughter out of his arms.

When Shiori was sure that Hinako wouldn't try a second time, she explained with an apologetic tone, "I'm sorry. Whenever she is confronted with something new she touches it and tries to pull it closer. None of her other uncles have a beard and she hasn't realized yet that she is hurting somebody when she grabs onto hair." at the last part the young mother smiled up at him while she stroked Hina-chan's cheek. Damn was she pretty, was the smoker's only thought to that.

"She has quite the strong grip." Asuma murmured while he watched the toddler in his arms now a bit more warily.

"That she has." Genma snorted, "And just as Shiori-san said Hina-chan also likes to rip on hair when she is in reaching distance so be careful. By the way she is now reacting to 'no' too?" at the last part Genma turned to Hinako's mother, he had just returned from a two week mission.

"Yes, I'm sorry you missed some of her steps Genma but I have written everything down and made some photos, I take you are staying for lunch?" Shiori asked rhetorically.

Genma grinned sheepishly at Shiori who just snorted in return and waved her hand in direction of the cupboards. The senbon wielder stretched lazily and got himself another set for the table. Before anybody else could say anything, Tenzo came strolling in through the back door and came to a halt when confronted with so many of his comrades.

"Oh." he exclaimed brightly.

"Tenzo! Looks like everybody is coming home today. Go grab a set, we were just about to start with eating." Shiori said cheerfully, too used to their shinobi friends coming and going from her house at all times to even blink at the sudden intrusion.

It hadn't become uncommon to find one or two of them in the middle of the night just sitting at the breakfast bar eating leftovers or taking care of Hinako when she had woken up while her parents were still sleeping. It had been awkward and quite disconcerting for the first few times it happened. After all she hadn't known the males in question for more than a year, and while she knew intellectually that they weren't a threat to her daughter and herself she still had to hold herself back from screaming at them when she came down the stairs first thing in the morning and found a man other than her husband feeding her baby and relaxing in their living room without having been invited in.  
Shiori had come to terms that being married to Kakashi meant that his comrades were a package deal after she had just plain asked her husband about this strange behavior one day. The silver haired Jounin had just looked confused at her until she had explained about how civilians considered it rude to enter a house without asking, not to mention about taking somebody else's child without permission. What had followed was an enlightening and somewhat embarrassing discussion with the whole ANBU cell about what civilians and shinobi considered normal. Afterwards Shiori knew that permanent shinobi cells and Genin teams were most of the time even closer than actual families and it was apparently common practice that they invaded the houses of their teammates and treated their children like their own.

"Why is that, that you guys always show up for either lunch or dinner?" grumbled Kakashi playfully.

His only thought to his comrades coming and going was how much additional protection and free babysitting Shiori and he had on hand when they wanted some alone time.

"It is your own fault for marrying somebody who can cook and is willing to feed us." Genma said cheekily before he and Tenzo moved the filled pots and bowls that Shiori placed on the breakfast bar over to the long dining table.

None of the other ninja had missed the byplay and were now assimilating this new piece of information; Kakashi had married this woman so the pregnancy was probably planned because they couldn't imagine Sharingan-no-Kakashi marrying out of duty when it wasn't a direct command from the Hokage.

"Tenzo-san, is the table your work?" Hayate asked curiously after they had walked closer to the oversized table.

"Yes, the last one broke during one of Kakashi-sempai's and Gai-san's brawls." Tenzo simply stated with a side glance at the Hatake clan head.

As a result Kakashi looked as close to sheepish as he showed in public and threw an apologizing gaze at his wife. Shiori just kissed him on the cheek when she passed him; she had accepted that certain things would sooner or later end up destroyed with these men in the house.

"The table really didn't matter, if you had caught the china on the other hand, I would have been really put out." Shiori stated calmly.

With the exception of the china she had removed everything breakable or valuable from the living room; they were shinobi so fights would happen and now that Hinako had started to crawl she also began to baby proof the rooms to prevent accidents.

Tenzo and Genma snorted before the wood user gently took Hinako-chan out Asuma's arms and deposited her in her custom baby chair courtesy of the Mokuton-user. On the way over he gave Hinako a quick but gentle kiss to the fluffy hair while she snuggled closer to him. Tenzo loved spending time with the little girl and was more than glad that his senpai's wife allowed the contact. When Shiori had sat them all down a couple of months ago and explained what was considered appropriate for civilians and what was just plain rude he had seriously feared that she would limit their contact with Hinako. Instead she had listened to their reasonings as ninja and in the end accepted their quirks with a sigh and a shake of her head.

The newest ninja privy to Kakashi's secret shook their heads while they watched the members of the Hatake household and extended family work in tandem to fill the table, it was surreal and most of the newcomers felt like they were trapped in a strange genjutsu.

Lunch turned out very lively with a lot of ribbing all around. The ninja watched with growing astonishment how the civilian who was known for her calm and polite demeanor teased or touched Genma and Tenzo without a second thought.

After lunch was finished and the table was cleared they watched somewhat bemused as Kakashi, Genma and Tenzo took over cleaning up while Shiori relaxed at the table, a normal civilian wife would have never allowed this.

"Are they always cleaning up?" Yugao couldn't help but ask.

Shiori looked at her with a raised eyebrow before she confirmed, "Of course, I cook for them and they clean up and make sure the fridge is always filled with groceries."

"You are strange, the civilian wives I know would never let that happen." Kurenai threw in.

As an answer Shiori snorted, yeah she had tried to shoo them away in the beginning too but now she was more than glad for the shared housework.

"That may be so but personally I think that's stupid of them, a child is already a full time job let alone housework, a little help from the partner wouldn't go amiss. Oh and they offered." then her lips twitched into a smirk, an expression the ninja had never seen on Shiori's face before, "Besides I'm sure your acquaintances aren't running a business besides housework and raising children."

"True." Anko conceded while she watched the woman in front of her.

Okay maybe she would have to have a closer eye on Hatake Shiori; she was clearly more than just the part she showed at Mariko's. The civilian had never ever even given the slightest hint that she was married to Kakashi and Anko had seen the silver haired Jounin just a week ago at Mariko's with Raido, nothing in her body language had even suggested an intimate relationship. Even the tales about a possible pregnancy around ten months ago had been dismissed by her as just as vicious rumors; a glance at Hinako led Anko grin sardonically, well they had turned out to be true.

Kurenai had to concede that her first impression of Shiori being a submissive woman that just did whatever she was told had been dead wrong, the woman that Kakashi married may be family oriented but she didn't take everything lying down and gave back as good as she got.

"Doing dishes?" Asuma couldn't help but tease his comrades when they returned to the table.

In the next moment he called himself an idiot when the scathing looks of all four women hit him, Shiori's gaze may not be as practiced as the kunoichis but it had a certain sparkle behind it that told him that she had a long memory.

"Of course." Kakashi snorted while he took his daughter from Shiori, "Shiori is my wife not my servant." The silver haired Jounin stated as a fact while he absentmindedly stroked Hinako's head and back while said girl slowly fell asleep against his torso.

"Good point." Kurenai nodded approvingly.

While the chuckling continued Kakashi stood up and carried Hinako into the library to put her down for her afternoon nap, she was already out like a light when she touched the mattress.

"So Kakashi I gotta ask, for years you have kept your face carefully guarded and had people chasing after you to find out what's under it, and now you just carelessly show it to us." Anko smirked at Kakashi.

In return she received a devastating handsome grin that made her ears hot while she thankfully could stop a blush before it became visible on her face. Kurenai and Yugao weren't that lucky, both turned beet red and avoided eye contact with anybody on the table afterwards.

Genma's surprised laugh turned into a cough when Shiori hit him on the arm, the senbon wielder looked a bit too entertained for her taste.

"You are a jerk." Shiori simply state with a dead pan at her husband but her statement lost some of it's bite when the ninja around the table noticed the slight twitch in her lips.

"Your jerk." Kakashi teased her while he grinned down at his wife.

The corners of her mouth rose even more before she gave him a slap to the shoulder and complained, "Stop that, you are horrible for making me laugh, the situation is not that funny. That smile is dangerous and shouldn't be used against your comrades."

"Thank you Shiori-san." Yugao coughed, "And she right you know, no wonder you hide your face, you would probably cause more accidents around Konoha than anybody else."

The males around her didn't know if they should feel offended or agree with her, but they were pretty glad that Kakashi had kept his face covered for so long, while they were not bad looking, none of them would be competition for the silver haired Jounin.

Kakashi simply shrugged and turned back to Anko, "I'm married and this is my home, I don't see why I have to hide my face here. Plus none of my stalkers know of this place."

This time it was Shiori that had to suppress a laugher with a cough, "Don't worry anata, I will protect you from the bad, bad fangirls."

Asuma and Kakashi locked gazes and shuddered simultaneously.

"You better do." the silver haired man murmured while his arm went around Shiori's shoulders.

"You two are disgustingly sweet." Yugao dead panned.

Genma beside the married couple opened his mouth to comment to that when Shiori sent him a look, "Say it and I promise you I will bring out the baby photos."

Genma wisely shut his mouth once more.

"Now you have me curious." Anko said eagerly and also Kurenai and Yugao leaned closer.

"Sorry, I can't tell you anything." Shiori said with an apologetic smile while she saw how Genma relaxed out of the corner of her eyes.

To tell the truth Shiori would only use those pictures if Genma should do something that was completely out of line. Since Shiori had gotten used to their near constant presence she had started to treat them like brothers or close cousins. Well what she thought were brothers or close cousins, Eliza didn't have a lot of extended family and had seen them maybe once every five or ten years and Shiori had grown up as a single child too. So after the first careful testing on both sides Shiori had found a comfortable rapport with all of them, though she could easily say that Genma was her favorite hands down.

"Pity." Asuma mumbled before he threw her an considering gaze, "I know I'm going to dig myself my own grave with the next question but how old are you Shiori-san, I mean you have been running a successful business for the last three years."

Shiori's lips twitched while the Kunoichi's around the table sent Asuma disapproving gazes, today he seemed to be only able to put his foot in his mouth.

"You are right Asuma, that's really not a question you should ask a lady,… but tell anyway I want to know too." Anko at first scolded the smoker before turning to Shiori with a sunny grin.

Shiori snorted before she said amused, "How old do you think I am?"

"Don't answer Asuma, you have a serve case of foot in mouth today." Hayate quickly intervened.

"Hhm, you look young but that could be just good genes, you are pretty mature and are successful in your profession,… so I would say around twenty five like Kakashi, maybe a year or two older.", Anko answered in his stead.

"Interesting." was the only thing Shiori answered while she looked serenely at the other ninja, nothing on her face betrayed her thoughts.

"Damn." murmured Hayate, "Playing poker with you must be a nightmare."

Kakashi guwaffed beside his wife while looked amused at his comrades, oh they were so in for it.

"Hhm, I think she is around your age Anko, twenty four or possible even twenty three." Kurenai answered as the next person.

"Hhm, Genma, Tenzo any advice?" Hayate asked his long time friends.

"Sorry I'm not going to say anything." Genma grinned while Tenzo just shook his head grinning, he had been watching the conversation contently for a while now and didn't feel the need to contribute.

"Oh well, then I will go with Kurenai, twenty four."

"Yugao?"

"Hhm, twenty eight."

"Asuma?"

"Twenty three."

Shiori and Kakashi looked at each other before they burst into laughter, Genma chuckled beside them, he himself had been stunned when he realized that he was ten years older than Kakashi's wife.

"How does it feel to be regarded older than you are." Genma asked teasingly.

"I like to think that they calculated more after my mental maturity and success then my actual age." Shiori promptly gave back.

"So younger than twenty three?" Asuma asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I turned nineteen in last August." Shiori answered.

"NINETEEN?" came to collective bellow from the ninja across the table.

"B-But, I mean,… when?" Yugao stammered.

"I met Kakashi when I was sixteen and he asked me to marry him on my eighteenth birthday." Shiori explained before she took a sip from her water.

Asuma, Hayate, Yugao and Kurenai were speechless while Anko waggled with her eyebrows and said teasingly, "Why Kakashi how naughty, taking an innocent young girl to bed."

Kakashi pouted at that Anko's quip while Shiori giggled and kissed her husband on the cheek before she turned to Anko and said impishly, "I fear you have it backwards Anko-san, it was me who dragged him into a bed first."

Around the table splutters and coughs could be heard while Kakashi only sighed and sent his wife a long suffering look, why oh why had his sense of humor rubbed off on her.

"What she meant was that I collapsed from chakra exhaustion in her back yard and she dragged me into her guest room before getting some help from the hospital." Kakashi clarified before he turned back to his wife once more, "And may I remind you that at that time I had already been stalking you for a few months?"

"You two,… you know what, you two deserve each other." Asuma said while he shook his head in disbelief. Stalking? Dragging into bed?

Kami-sama help them all.


	30. Chapter 30

**Chapter 30**

Shiori sat tiredly over the contracts that her lawyers had negotiated with the Akimichi clan and futilely rubbed her stiffening neck to stave off the pressure headache for a little bit more. Feeling herself becoming distracted the young mother pushed the papers away and threw a glance out of the window. It was pouring buckets of icy cold water and Shiori pitied anybody who had to spent time outside, she hoped that wherever Kakashi was at the moment that he hadn't to deal with such a weather, relaxing back into her chair while watching the rain slapping against the window Shiori's thoughts started to wander.  
Since she had come to Konoha so much had changed in her life and she had felt herself changing alongside it, like a canvass that had been painted over and over and over again. The months after Hinako's birth had had the latest and probably the most intense effect on the personality of the young mother.

During the long and exhausting nights in which Hinako had kept them up or woke them up in short intervals Shiori had started once more to dream about Eliza's life after years of next to none of them. The black haired civilian blamed her sleep deprivation and the stress of dealing with her newborn child on the fact that she felt off kilter.  
While Kakashi had lesser problems with the sleep deprivation, Shiori still feared that his lack of sleep could endanger him during missions and so on the nights before he had to leave she made him sleep in the guest room to catch some rest. Kakashi had NOT been happy with this but in the end complied most of the time.  
At three month the little girl had then finally started to sleep longer and subsequently given her parents the much needed relief.

From then on Shiori finally had time to really examine the state of her mind.  
She knew with a hundred percent certainty that she WAS Shiori, that was her name and that was her life and she would do nothing different than what she had done up until now, damn the knowledge she had received from Eliza.  
Marrying Kakashi was probably her best decision so far because she was happy, really happy with him and along with her husband came their daughter. Shiori couldn't even begin to describe the amount of love that she felt for this tiny being that was just discovering the world around her.  
With this sorted she dove into the memories she had locked away for such a long time. When she watched the first few ones Shiori paused confused, they had started to go strangely blurry since she had last had dreams about them. The emotions that she had felt so clearly at some point that it would have hurt her mentally if she hadn't suppressed them with all her might, felt dulled and watered down. The disbelief and grief that Eliza had had felt for her parents and friends right after becoming aware about her death, wasn't as all encompassing anymore.  
Eliza, the person that had been the voice in the back of her mind for such a long time and had taught her so many things had been slowly dying for years and Shiori had never noticed, hadn't wanted to notice. When she now called for the woman that had once been her soul's other life she only received some whispered words and some dulled feelings instead of full answers and a clear emotion.  
This discovery startled the young mother awake, had her desperate tries to suppress the overwhelming feelings killed this woman that once possessed her soul? Shiori felt shock, confusion and to her horror even relief. Relief that she would never again be overwhelmed by Eliza's feelings, relief that one of her greatest nightmares would never happen, that their situations would be switched and it would be her as the small voice in the back, and relief that her body was soon really HER body and nobody else's.  
After that discovery Shiori had spent the day curled around her daughter who had been a consoling presence while she tried to cope with the fact that she had felt relief at somebody else's future death, worse somebody who was a different version of herself. What was that saying about her character? Was she really so selfish that she would sacrifice Eliza to keep her life as it was now,… her family?

The answer was yes.

After that revelation Shiori had felt weighted down and at the same time strangely at peace with herself.  
This was **her**. Hatake Shiori, a wife who loved her husband, a mother who loved her child, somebody who liked to take care of people, somebody who liked to cook, bake and experiment with new ingredients, somebody who was fiercely protective of whom she loved,… somebody who was inherently selfish and would chose her own life over that of somebody else, with the only exceptions being her loved ones.

This self awareness had far reaching consequences, it centered her and restored her Zone and this time it was also an all compassing inner calm that flooded her thoughts and filled her whole body.  
When Kakashi returned from his latest mission he had looked at her for a long moment before he had put his arms around her and had kissed her unhurriedly.

"Something is different about you" her husband murmured while he slowly rubbed her arms up and down.

"Hhm, yes well I came to a conclusion." Shiori stated while she reveled in the feeling of contentment and the additional safe warmth that she had come to associate with Kakashi's presence.

"And that would be?" Kakashi asked relaxed while he in turn basked in his wife's calmness.

Kakashi's thoughts circled around his wife's utter calm, since Hinako's birth she had lost the calmness and understated warmth that had attracted him the most concerning her personality, not that she wasn't warm and loving to both of them but something had been bothering her at first he had thought it was just because of her being out of her depth's as new mother but when the months went by and she hadn't found her equilibrium again he started to wonder what could keep her from it. And now the calmness had returned, maybe even stronger and more… intense wasn't the right word but he couldn't describe it in any other way.

"I'm an inherently selfish person and I would gladly sacrifice somebody for a chance to stay with both of you." Shiori answered Kakashi truthfully.

Her husband didn't say anything for the next few moments while they enjoyed each other's proximity before he hmmed under his breath and whispered in her ear, "I'm glad."

The black haired civilian's lips twitched and she snuggled a bit closer to the furnace against her body, this was one of the many reasons she loved Kakashi. He listened to her the few times she talked about her feelings and simply accepted without judging her.  
Their moment was interrupted by the still minimal whimper of their daughter. Shiori sighed and grinned up wryly at Kakashi before she removed herself from his body and made her way into the library to check what was wrong.

When she was just at the door Kakashi's smooth voice sounded through the room, "It's okay you know,… being selfish. We all are, especially the ninja. We want to keep those that are important to us safe for our own sakes, that's why we risk our lives for Konoha not because of some strange notion of honor and duty."

Shiori halted for a moment and then glanced back at her husband who stood in the middle of their living room and stared back at her. Shiori's lips slowly turned up into a smile, she liked Kakashi's explanation. Without another word she turned around and continued to their crying daughter. Yes, being selfish suddenly wasn't so bad anymore.

On another note Shiori had returned her full attention to Mariko's three months after Hinako's birth. She had been checking up on it since Hinako was three weeks old and had done the essentials but because of her lack of sleep she was pretty much useless in the serving room.  
Her employees had cooed over little Hinako the first time they had seen her and hadn't stopped since then. Whenever she had brought her with her when she worked for some hours in her office they had found convenient excuses to visit her and Hinako, which meant that they were unfortunately distracted from work.  
So Shiori tried to go only on the days when she knew Kakashi would be at home to take care of their daughter, which didn't work out so well because he could get a notice for a mission at any time, and while there were four more shinobi on hand, the same applied to them.  
This situation left Shiori in a bind, she loved her daughter and she would NEVER ever leave her unsupervised or with babysitters that had little to no clue what they were doing, but she also loved her job and damn it, she had built up Mariko's since the beginning and for about a year now, ever since her marriage and pregnancy she felt more and more left out. Yes it had been wonderful the first few months to concentrate mostly on her marriage and growing child but now she wanted to return at least partially to her work in the service room and not only coordinate behind the scenes.

Her saving grace was a conversation with Himawatari-sensei who was also served as her pediatrician because otherwise they would have to inform another medic about her martial state and Shiori didn't want to risk this. Since the birth of Hinako her mother instincts had been running on high alert and she had done everything to insure that her daughter would NOT be brought in connection with Kakashi. There were thankfully enough white and grey haired shinobi and civilians in Konoha that nobody gave her daughter's hair a second glance.  
Himawatari-sensei had called her attention to a pretty convenient service in Konoha, the Konoha crèche. It was the saving grace of every kunoichi mother, shinobi father and harrowed civilian parent. They were open twenty four hours, seven days a week and could take children on short notice without the parents having to pay obscene amounts. Furthermore they had one of the best securities in Konoha, it also helped that the crèche was only a ten minute walk away from the mission office and strategically close to one of the tunnels that led to Konoha's emergency structure inside the Hokage mountain.

So when Shiori registered Hinako there she had a good feeling about this place. To be on the save side she still registered her under Inoue but also authorized Kakashi and the rest of the ANBU team to pick up her daughter. She then was assured that the list of her contacts as well as any other information concerning her daughter would not become public knowledge. Shiori was also handed a package of information with the creche's services and rules.  
She then left her daughter with the caretakers for the next four hours. Shiori suddenly felt absolutely rotten for just leaving her child with unknown people and had to force herself quite a few times to not return to the crèche during that time. In the end she stood in front of the building nearly an hour too early to take her baby home.  
The head caretaker, a robust looking woman with warm eyes just nodded understandingly at the anxious mother when she returned that early. She then told her that while Hinako had fussed for the first half an hour, she had then calmed down. After this first trial run Shiori did another few tests and with each time she felt better about leaving Hinako in the experienced hands of the workers there, until she could finally concentrate on what she was doing again.  
From then on Hinako spent one day a week in the crèche while Shiori returned to her ninja clients for a few hours. Especially the Hyuuga seemed to be delighted at her reappearance in their typically understated manner. Hinata had brightened up and had tentatively initiated a conversation with Shiori, she had done this only two times before and the black haired woman couldn't help but smile down at the shy kunoichi in training. Hinata's stutter had worsened a bit in the time she had been absent from Mariko's and Shiori was determined to try to coax the girl out of her shell once more.

On another note Naruto had bellowed in happiness and tackled her when he had recognized her behind the display case instead of one of her employees. He had asked her pretty loudly why she hadn't been there the last few months, which brought Shiori in a bit of a dilemma but in the end she decided to just skirt the topic without lying to the sunny boy in front of her.

"I'm sorry Naruto that I haven't been here a lot, there has been a big change in my private life and with the success of my business came additional duties, so I had to reduce my hours here." she answered while she carefully stroked through his blonde hair, he had grown a bit since she had last seen him.

"So how is school?" the black haired civilian then asked to distract the boy.

Naruto huffed a bit before he launched into a tale about his latest prank and the detention Iruka-sensei had given him for that.

**Hi so I have exams this week so I won't be uploading because I have no time sorry :(**


	31. Chapter 31

**Chapter 31**

The months after the lunch with the future senseis Shiori was so occupied with her work and family that she didn't realize how fast time was flying by until the day came when Kakashi told her that he would become a Genin sensei.

Sandaime-sama had apparently arranged this so that Kakashi would not only teach the last surviving Uchiha member how to use the Sharingan but so that he could spend more time with his young family. Kakashi was very thankful about this solution, Hinako was growing with each day and during the last few months he had missed a lot of her stepping stones because some high priority missions had led him far away from the village.

When she heard the news Shiori couldn't help herself and she paused for a moment while she contemplated what this would mean for her now that 'Cannon' would begin soon. Unwilling to panic and worry herself right now Shiori turned to the obvious part of what Kakashi had said and teased him throughout the whole day about his new status as sensei.  
She called him sensei at the most inappropriate moments and drove him nuts with it, Kakashi seemed to love and hate the word pretty much equally. So when he told her in the evening after their first round of sex on that day that she was a tease. Shiori just grinned and crawled leisurely on top of him, from there on she slowly kissed down his chiseled torso until she arrived at the beginning of his silver pubic hair, with a devious smirk Shiori took his softened member into her mouth which was still somewhat wet from his come and her juices. As a result Kakashi was faster hard then she could say Hokage tower and had her on all fours while he took her from behind. Shiori could feel her arms and legs give out until only Kakashi's strong grip held her in place while he jack hammered into her and she writhed in pleasure underneath him. Since starting a relationship with him she had never quite broken his control so much as in that moment.

When she came it was with a shrieked, "Kakashi-sensei!" on her lips before she blacked out.

Shiori awoke some time later to Kakashi softly kissing her relaxed body and grinned up at him more than satisfied.

"You are such a god damned tease. I will never be able to hear this title again without thinking back to this night. You have ruined me, how can I look my soon to be students into the eyes when all I will remember is this night? I hope you are you happy now?" Kakashi lamented amused while he continued to kiss her body lazily, her only answer was a tired giggle before Shiori fell asleep in her husband's arms.

On the next morning Shiori was awoken by careful fingers that stroked over her right hipbone and sent delicious shivers down her back, she murmured happily before she turned and moved closer to the heat source that was her husband.

"Do you have to get up already?" she asked tiredly while she softly stroked his biceps and then kissed the ANBU tattoo on Kakashi's arm.

"Hhm I have a guard shift after lunch." Kakashi answered lazily, something in his voice was off but Shiori was still too tired to find out why.

Content the black haired mother snuggled even closer to her husband but before she could go back to sleep she heard her daughter calling for her in the next room. Sighing tiredly Shiori opened her eyes and looked amused in the grey one of her husband before she got up to get Hinako something to eat and or change her diaper.

Hinako was now fourteen months old and discovering new things around every corner, her little baby girl was already speaking in basic but complete sentences and she was also quite fast if somewhat unsteady on her feet now. This had given Shiori quite a few heart attacks in the last few weeks, the speed in which she was developing was definitely not normal. From what she could remember from Eliza's blurry memories babies weren't supposed to do what Hinako was doing at her age. When she brought up her concerns with Himawatari-sensei, the doctor had given Shiori a guide about baby development; it seemed as if the baby development in this world was generally faster than in the one of Eliza. It had calmed Shiori down somewhat and now she was reading the book whenever she had time, the black haired civilian was pretty sure that she could start to potty train little Hina-chan in a few more weeks, because no matter how fast her mind was developing if her body wasn't ready yet, there was no sense in trying to train her.  
Teething had been a nightmare at first when besides Hinako's pitiful crying she also verbally told them what was wrong with her and they couldn't do anything against it, this had broken Shiori's heart while she desperately searched for ways to relief Hinako's discomfort. It thankfully got better with cold bite rings and baby food, and things had looked up pretty soon.  
Especially during that time Shiori was glad for the support their friends and acquaintances gave them. Whenever Shiori needed a time out there were one or even more people ready to take her daughter or when worst came to worst there was always the crèche to fall back to. These small breathers helped Shiori a lot to not get frustrated with her always questioning daughter, but no matter how well she knew Kakashi's colleagues the black haired woman still felt uncomfortable with leaving her baby longer than a few hours with anybody but the ANBU team and so most of the time Hinako was entertained in the Hatake household while her mother was either catching up on sleep or doing something else relaxing.

Surprisingly it was Anko who visited the most from the newly informed group of ninja, it was probably because as her status as member of the T&I division. She either worked directly in Konoha or was sent off on long missions that took up months. The snake chunin was,… interesting. She didn't like to talk about her private life or past, but somehow found a surprising amount of pleasure in telling Shiori about the different psychological tricks and the reactions she drew with them. The first few times this woman had visited Shiori had an inkling that she was under observation to see if she could be a threat to Konoha and so the conversations had been a bit awkward, but with time Anko relaxed somewhat. There weren't best friends or something like that, but they had reached an understanding and their mutual love for tea ceremonies and sweets gave them something to talk about. The violet haired kunoichi was also somewhat bipolar and had the strangest mood swings Shiori had ever seen, but she was in no way malicious. There were days when there was something unbelievingly violent in her eyes and it often led to the destruction of cups or plates, but never ever had Anko lost control in the vicinity of Hinako and for that Shiori couldn't help herself but respect the woman.

With time the black haired civilian came to realization that the kunoichi was also very lonely. From what she had gleaned from the few things she got out of the chunin she deducted that Anko was a workaholic of circumstance. Yes she loved her job, no question there but she spent too many hours in the T&I building because if she went home she would be confronted with her isolation from the rest of Konoha. The few friends that she did have outside her T&I colleagues had irregular working hours and were often out of the village when she had days off. Shiori on the other hand was a civilian and never left the village, she also had pretty fixed times at which she would be at home and while she wasn't a friend per se, she was somebody who didn't avoid her for her connection to Orochimaru.  
A perk of Anko's regular presence was that she could easily track down Hinako when the mischievous girl had once more decided to explore and then hide from her mother.

From what Shiori had seen during visiting mother-child courses in the hospital, ninja babies as a rule developed faster motor skills but were in the mental development just as fast as their civilian counterparts, in Shiori's case her little girl developed faster in both departments.  
To increase Hinako's reflexes and agility even further Kakashi played all sorts of games with their toddler daughter. There were even ninja children songs that would help with concentration and memory later on in life.

It had taken Shiori some time to consciously acknowledge that her baby would become a kunoichi and with that came a dangerous lifestyle.  
When she had burst into tears one day without any particular reason she had shocked her husband into immobility for a few moments and only calmed down somewhat when Kakashi had taken her into his arms and had rocked her like the two of them did with Hinako. On that day she had finally started to accept the fate of her daughter and possible other future children and had started to also learn the songs and games from Kakashi. If she couldn't protect her baby from this world, she would damn well give her the tools to do it herself.

When Kakashi had returned from a tiring mission and had caught Shiori for the first time playing ninja developing games with Hinako and singing to her at the same time, an invisible weight had lifted itself from his shoulders. He had seen in the last months how Shiori had unconsciously denied the fact that their precious little girl would one day become a ninja and he had begun to worry about this blatant refusal of reality. The cry attack some weeks before had somewhat alleviated the tension in their household and now it looked like Shiori had finally accepted the inevitability of a clan child's life. He couldn't help but be proud of his wife, the well hidden strength in her always surprised and elated him and it drove home the fact again and again just how lucky he had been when he met her.

Said Jounin now got up from their double bed and took a shower, he felt guilty and angry with himself; yesterday he had left marks on Shiori for the first time as long as he could remember. On both her hips and lower back were violet-blue fingerprints to see and Kakashi felt rotten. With practiced movements, the shinobi slipped into his clothes and wandered down into the kitchen were Shiori was prepping their breakfast and on the side cleaned up the mess their little princess was making.  
Kakashi watched amused as another spoonful of carrot mash landed on the floor and his wife sighed while she rolled her eyes and bend over to clean the latest spot Hinako had prettified with her breakfast. With a quick movement he saved Shiori from having to change her shirt and led the full spoon gently into Hinako's mouth. His daughter looked up at him with an innocent astonishment that made him snort in amusement, her big blue eyes had finally settled in the color of her mother and with his own silver hair color she made a really cute sight.

"Thank you." Shiori said wryly before she took the soup and the fish from the cooking stove and put them on the table.

"Is something wrong?" Shiori asked curiously after finishing her soup, Kakashi was never this contemplating during breakfast.

Said man looked serious up at her before he sighed and put down his chop sticks while he looked unhappy at his wife, "I hurt you."

"You hurt me?" Shiori asked astonished, she felt fine, shouldn't she… be aware of the fact that he hurt her somehow?

"You have bruises on your hips." Kakashi tried to clarify.

"I have,…" curious Shiori checked her hips and really she had Kakashi's finger tips in blue on her skin Shiori ran her fingers over the small round spots and that snorted and shook her head, "Firstly, I wouldn't have even noticed them if you hadn't pointed them out. Secondly I have very pale skin and bruise easily, believe me that is nothing and thirdly even if they had hurt I wouldn't regret it because the experience last night was phenomenal and I'm serious thinking about teasing you more often into losing a bit of your iron control if that is the result.", the last part was said teasingly.

Shiori watched amused as her husband looked somewhat lost at her and the two finished their breakfast in silence, together the two cleaned up the table before Shiori walked over to the toddler in the high chair and picked her up. With a quick step over to Kakashi's place at the sink she kissed him reassuringly on the lips while combing through his gravity defying hair. After that she quickly deposited Hinako in Kakashi's arms with the order to take her outside and play a bit in the sun. With a last smile and a happy hum Shiori turned around and picked up the dirty laundry she had moved the night before to the staircase, she had some work to do before she could drop of Hinako at the crèche and check on the tea house.


	32. Chapter 32

**I'm SOOO glad that my exams are over, I slept nearly 12 hours straight after the last one.**

**Hinako: 15 months  
Sakura: 13 (March Birthday)  
Sasuke, Naruto: 12 (July, October)  
Shiori: 20  
Yugao: 21  
Hayate: 22  
Tenzo: 23  
Anko: 24  
Kakashi, Gai: 26  
Asuma, Kurenai: 27  
Genma: 29  
Raido: 32**

**Chapter 32**

On the day he met his team for the first time Kakashi used the morning to play with Hinako just like he always did before Shiori shooed him out of the house because he was already two hours late for his appointment at the academy.  
When he returned in the early evening Kakashi was in a strangely melancholic mood and even Hinako's babbling and questions only elicited a small smile while they were having dinner. Their smart daughter recognized that something wasn't right with Kakashi and so she curled up on his lap after eating and gave him one of her still somewhat clumsy toddler hugs. The silver haired Jounin pulled her closer and burrowed himself in her hair and neck to inhale her baby smell until she drifted off to sleep. Without a word he carried her upstairs before he returned to the living room and sank onto the couch once more. Shiori had finished the dishes in the mean time, it was normally Kakashi's duty but her husband seemed to be so out of it that she wordlessly took over the chore. Shiori dried her wet hands before she joined the silver haired Jounin on the couch and curled up in the crook of his arm.

"Is there something you want to tell me?" she asked quietly while she softly traced his pectorals through mesh and the black turtleneck shirt.

Kakashi sighed while he pulled her closer and buried his nose in her hair this time. He didn't speak for sometime before his deep voice sounded once more.

"I have never told you about my own Genin team have I?" the Sharingan user asked distracted while he was engrossed in his memories.

As an answer Shiori just shook her head and closed her eyes while she concentrated on her husband's voice.

"My sensei was Namikaze Minato, Konoha's Yondaime, he was an absolutely brilliant man. Then there were my teammates Uchiha Obito and Nohara Rin,…" Kakashi trailed off while his eyes became distant, "I was a right bastard at that time, completely immersed in the shinobi rules of conduct and cold and brash to my teammates. Minato-sensei had been my teacher since I was five and suddenly there were two more who wanted his attention. Rin was bearable, her crush on me was annoying but she wasn't in my face with it and she was also fairly competent as kunoichi and even more so as medic nin. Obito on the other hand was always late, a gofer and barely above average in skills and so very very different from the normal typical Uchiha,… let's just say we clashed,… a LOT."

Shiori hmmed while her hand was now tracing some simple patterns on Kakashi's abdominals.

"We had a little bit less than four years together,…" Kakashi started but couldn't continue.

The black haired civilian felt the shinobi's careful controlled rise and fall of his torso while she continued to reassuringly trace his upper body.

"It was during the last months of the third shinobi war, I was thirteen at that time and I was placed as team leader because I just passed my Jounin exams and sensei was called back to the front lines to help out." Kakashi took another shuddering breath before he continued; his voice had become carefully blank and monotone, "We were infiltrating Kusagakure to destroy the Kannabi bridge and cut off the supply chain for Iwa,… but we were discovered by Iwa nin and they kidnapped Rin,… I wanted to continue the mission instead of going after her. Obito shouted at me before taking off after Rin,… I… his words woke me up and I followed him. We found Rin's kidnappers and in the following skirmish I lost my left eye… Obito activated his Sharingan and we got the Iwa-asshole,… but as revenge he brought down the cave on us in his last moments … Obito, that idiot pushed me out of the way and got caught under the rocks… he was still alive but we couldn't move the rocks off of him and the rest of the cave was coming down… he gave me his eye, his Sharingan as a present for my Jounin promotion,… Rin replanted it in my eye socked and then we had to run to get out of the damn cave." Kakashi's voice had broken a tiny bit at the end of the sentence and he was now visibly struggling with his composure.

Shiori listened attentively while her husband spoke,… the exact details of his story were pretty new to her. After Eliza graduated college and started to work in 2005 she had to drastically reduce her Naruto intake. She had gleaned most of her knowledge about the Naruto verse from fanfictions as well of the occasional subtitled videos on the internet. So the third hand about this world's timeline knowledge was a lot more vague than Shiori would have liked.

"This was pretty much the beginning of the end. Yes we finished the mission and destroyed the Kannabi bridge but we lost Obito. The Uchiha clan gave me a lot of grieve about Obito's eye but I could keep it thanks to sensei's intervention. The war was still going on for a time and so we kept running missions with other ninja. It,… Rin died not even half a year later… she was kidnapped by Kirigakure nin this time… they, they made her into a Jinchuuriki with a faulty seal, so that the Three Tails would be set three in the middle of Konoha… She begged me to kill her but I refused,… I couldn't,… I wouldn't not after Obito, not after promising him to take care of her." Kakashi's voice was now nothing else but a light whisper in the room, Shiori had to concentrate to understand him, "We were chased by Kiri nin, probably to have us return even faster to Konoha… when we were attacked again Rin impaled herself on my Chidori, the lighting attack that I invented." the last part was spat out with a bitterness that Shiori had never heard in Kakashi before, "… And finally sensei, he had become Hokage shortly before Rin's death, Konoha was finally recovering,… and then happened the Nine-Tails one year into his reign."

The black haired civilian stopped tracing his torso and settled her hand a bit above his heart while she tried to find words and fell short, after a time she finally said, "Tell me about the good times."

"The good times?" Kakashi choked.

"Yes, tell me about your training under your sensei." Shiori insisted.

"Minato-sensei was,… I can't even describe. He was a genius and he always started our training with an all out spar. When Rin and Obito joined us when we were nine he was adamant that we practiced teamwork as much as possible. Today I understand but then?... I was pretty arrogant thinking that I wouldn't need the help of my team." Kakashi sighed before his lips twitched up into a tiny smirk. "I can remember how frustrated I was that every time we didn't work together flawlessly sensei bound Obito and me together at our ankles and made us run rounds around Konoha until we collapsed in exhaustion, or something similar with sit ups, pushups or chin-ups,… now that I think back Minato-sensei was quite sadistic for such a nice guy."

Shiori snorted lightly before she stretched and kissed him on the cheek. Kakashi's lips twitched and he bend down and kissed her properly.

"Feeling better?" the dark haired woman asked while her eyes became soft once more.

To be honest Shiori wasn't sure how to handle this situation. It seemed that her marriage with Kakashi and the birth of their daughter had led to him confront his past and starting to accept instead of just ignoring his state of mind as best as he could.

Kakashi contemplated her question for a moment before he nodded still somewhat unsure.

"Good, now tell me what brought this on." Shiori kept prodding, Kakashi needed to talk about this.

"The brats, they are… they have certain characteristics that mirror my old Genin team." Kakashi tried to explain.

"Oh?" his wife said while she raised an eyebrow.

"Naruto is a lot like Obito, loud boisterous, a bit stupid and has a crush on his female teammate. Sakura, well from what I could glean from the reports she is pretty intelligent, has excellent chakra control and has a crush on her broody teammate. And finally Sasuke,… he reminds me a lot of me silent, arrogant and angry." Kakashi finally elaborated.

"Arrogant and angry? You must have grown out of it since your Genin time then." Shiori murmured quietly while she contemplated what she had just heard.

Beside her Kakashi chuckled, he was somewhat between bitter and amused, "I had a long time to think about my actions and the consequences."

"Will you tell me one day why you were this rule obsessed and angry?" the blue eyed woman asked tentatively.

Kakashi stiffened before he forced himself to relax his muscles once more, "Maybe someday." he acquiesced.

Shiori just nodded to this before changing the topic and asking curiously, "So how will you train them?".

At this Kakashi grinned at her before he mischievously answered, "They aren't Genin yet, first they have to pass my test tomorrow."

"Do I want to know what you are planning?" the young mother asked amused.

"Hhm, I'm going to check their skills in a three to one battle tomorrow,… after I leave them to wait for a few hours and on an empty stomach." the last part was chuckled in unholy glee.

"Kakashi! You are making them fight on an empty stomach? That is really mean." Shiori tried to say with a straight face before she burst into giggles, oh she remembered that particular day VIVIDLY especially Naruto's taijutsu lesson had never failed to make Eliza laugh.

Kakashi looked down at his wife while she gave into her urge to laugh. He didn't like to admit it but he did feel better after telling her about his team. His subconscious felt lighter and while the pain that had turned into a hollow feeling some years ago felt sharper once more it didn't bother him that much, to be honest it was a welcome change in comparison to the numbness he had experienced during the later years of his ANBU career.  
Kakashi had never really talked about his team with anyone other than during the mandatory sessions with the special division that dealt with the psychological problems of the elite nin. The silver haired Jounin grudgingly had to admit that they had a purpose other than being the bane of existence for the black op corps. Their job was it to catch mental breaks early enough to either head them off or deal with them in a controlled environment and far away from a potentially important mission. They were also responsible for breaking their fellow Konoha ninja and then put them back together once more should they need it; especially the Yamanaka clan had proven handy at that.  
Throughout his years in ANBU service Kakashi had belonged to the curious group of the functional insane ones. It meant that while he had psychological problems he had a tight enough control over them that they didn't hinder his missions and so didn't warrant one of the shrink bastards, as the ANBU corps affectionately called them, to break him yet.  
And now in one evening Shiori had unconsciously done what a whole team of elite shinobi had tried to do for about ten years. She had pried the festering wound open and while it fucking hurt he could practically feel how the pus was slowly draining away. Yes it was uncomfortable and he had no idea how long or even if this wound would heal some day but Kakashi felt strangely inclined to at least try and put his fucked over childhood and teenage years behind him.

Coming out of his realization the Hatake could only stare at the white wall in thoughtfulness, maybe talking about the old team seven wasn't such a bad idea as he had dreaded after returning from their first meeting. Hell, Obito would probably kicked his ass for being such a coward, the former ANBU captain thought wryly.  
A bittersweet smile stole itself on his face, Obito. What the loudmouth's reaction would have been to him being saddled with a Genin team? He probably would have laughed at his misfortune before reminiscing about their own Genin days before turning red and promptly trying to forget about all the times when he put his foot in his mouth. Now that Kakashi thought about it he snorted lightly, oh there was some pretty funny stuff that had happened throughout their missions. Obito stumbling into the female section of a bath house was only the tip of the iceberg.

With a still shaky smile Kakashi turned back to Shiori, "You know there was this one time we had to escort a whole merchant family to the coast and …"


	33. Chapter 33

**Chapter 33**

On the next morning Kakashi felt raw from the talk of the night before and distracted himself with spending some time with Hinako in the garden playing hide and seek before he made his way to the training grounds. Shiori had prepared four Bentos for him and his team in the morning and then had left for the tea house very early. Anko and Yugao arrived shortly before half past ten and spent the rest of the day in the Hatake household to watch over Hinako until her parents returned.

Shiori stretched her arms while she looked at the ninja working on the outer wall of the upper floors; they were making a lot of progress and should be finished sometime today. In the last month Shiori had stopped the renting contract with the owner of the building and had outright bought it. Because of the excellent location and the amount of money she had been making from the clearly well visited tea house the buying price had risen quite a lot since she had started her business there. This had forced her to take out a loan because most of her money was frozen in investments and not very accessible at the moment. Shiori hadn't liked this situation but she had gritted her teeth and signed the documents for the loan, it would not only cover the building costs but also the ones for the renovations and modifications she wanted. Civilian workers and ninjas were now in the process of changing the upper floors into sky lounges with reflecting and reinforced glass panels. Shiori had demanded that doors would be integrated into the sky lounge design so that the ninja didn't even have to jump of the roof to enter it.  
The construction on Mariko's had attracted quite a lot of attention from all over Konoha, the expansion and rehiring process would make Mariko's the biggest tea house in Konoha. Which also meant that she was a major commissioner for the Fuinjutsu department in Konoha; besides the normal security and privacy seals she also had them reinforcing the building structure and foundation to make it as quake secure as possible. As reason she had indicated that she felt somewhat unsure about the stability of her business because of the many glass panels she wanted, while in truth Shiori hoped to prevent the destruction of her tea house during the Sound invasion with those seals, or to at least minimize it.

In the evening of the bell test day Kakashi returned clearly exasperated from his Genin team and bemoaned the fact that his students while in the end getting the lesson took two tries to get the message of team work. And even than it had been more out of pure luck and the fact that Kakashi had to train Sasuke that they had passed than anything else. He also lamented the fact that with the exception of the Uchiha the other two had problems with the basics and would need some serious remedial lessons. While he removed his weapons the silver haired Jounin promised darkly that he would put them through the wringer to get them up to standards.

Shiori tried to feel for Kakashi and his dilemma but in the end had too much fun laughing at his misery; she took the team photograph out of his hands and looked at it.

"So it is really Uzumaki Naruto that is on your team, I had wondered when you said Naruto yesterday." Shiori stated while she traced the faces on the photograph.

"You know Naruto?" Kakashi asked quite curious.

"Yes the brat is once or twice a week at the tea house to get either takeaway or eat there, it's my opportunity to force as many vegetables down his throat as possible." Shiori said grinning.

"I have never seen him there." Kakashi murmured.

"That's not so strange because you come at completely different times, and also sit at completely different corners now that I think about it." Shiori supplied thoughtfully before her eyes wandered back to the photo, "Hhm I have seen Sasuke also more than a few times but I have never spoken to him, he always gets take out and leaves as fast as possible. Oh and Sakura also has been at Mariko's once or twice as far as I can remember, always with some of her girlfriends."

Kakashi simply nodded at that and then watched while his wife placed the photo in a frame and put it on the long Mokuton shelf that spanned the whole wall and contained some family pictures, photos from their friends as well as his old Genin teams photograph since this day. Kakashi had retrieved it from his dusty flat and had carefully placed it beside the one with a six month old Hinako in it. Additionally there were also the small presents Kakashi had started to bring back from different countries, which had led to Shiori developing a weakness for extravagant tea cups from around the Elemental countries.

"So,… now that they are officially your team are your introducing them to Hinako and me?" the black haired civilian asked curiously.

Since their wedding Kakashi had introduced her to only nine ninja, his ANBU team included, though she knew that he had been brushing up on his other contacts in the last few months. Shiori wasn't sure why he was doing this but trusted her husband to tell her if something was wrong.

"Hhm I want to wait for a bit until I know that they can keep quiet about you and Hina-chan." Kakashi said decisively before he walked into the library and returned with a recent purchased story book for ninja kids around the age of five.

Shiori nodded in acceptance, as much as she wanted to see his Genins faces when they realized that their sensei had a family, she really didn't want to endanger Hinako with a careless world from one of the two loud mouths on Kakashi's team.

"I also want them to develop at least some kind of teamwork before meeting you; I fail to see why you have to put up with their bickering. If they annoy me enough I might even adopt some of Minato-sensei's training methods." the silver haired Jounin further elaborated.

After arranging the frames a bit while she laughed, Shiori returned to the couch and took a happy Hinako from Kakashi's lap.

Shiori kissed her daughter's cute face and then told her in a conspiratorial voice, "You hear that Hina-chan? Daddy is a meanie and enjoys making his minions,… eh I mean students suffer."

Kakashi grinned amused at his wife and daughter while he tugged at Hinako's feet and then playfully bit her tiny toes before he said, "Don't listen to Mummy she is finds this just as funny as me."

Their daughter laughed and shrieked while she tried to wriggle out of the hold of both her parents, babbling her delight.

Now that Hinako didn't need twenty four hour supervision anymore Shiori felt secure enough to leave her more and more often in the company of only just Kakashi's ninken when she was occupied with something else in the house. Her husband's canine partners were thankfully infinitively gentle with the sometimes still very rough Hinako. To be honest Shiori felt also a lot better when one of the dogs had an eye on her while Hinako went on one of her adventures and explored the rooms on the first floor or a part of the garden. Kakashi and Shiori had had to child prove the first floor a few weeks back after their curious daughter had nearly tumbled down the stairs to the cellar and were now in the middle of completing the second. They had caught Hinako trying to climb out of her crib and they both knew that it was only a matter of time for their first born to find a way out of her room.  
Thankfully Kakashi was now a lot more at home thanks to the team training and the D-rank missions they had to complete around the village and so also could keep an eye of their active daughter. Shiori had laughed tears while Kakashi described the latest escapade of Team Seven to his wife. The silver haired Jounin sensei had with quiet horror admitted that his Genin team had probably the worst luck in the whole Fire country concerning missions.

What was even funnier then listening to the despairing Hatake, was when all four Genin senseis were present and they tried to outdo each other with comical situations or mishaps during team training and on missions. Suffice to say that Shiori and the rest of their friends enjoyed those sessions immensely. Especially Anko and Genma laughed tears alongside the black haired civilian and they couldn't decide if a Genin team was the worst or the funniest thing that could happen to a Jounin. Either way the group had probably more fun than what was appropriate during these evenings.

Whenever their friends visited they also marveled about the leaps and bounds Hinako made in her development. She was now speaking in basic sentences with very few grammar mistakes and was learning that certain actions had certain effects. The smart little silver haired girl was now trying out her puppy dog eyes on her uncles and aunts with varying effects and was learning to go to certain people for certain things.  
Especially Anko had been watching this morbidly fascinated since the toddler had started with it and even took some notes to document her behavior around people. It was also the Intelligence specialist that brought up teaching their fifteen month old daughter how to read as early as possible. At first Shiori had been quite against this, she had feared that they were forcing too much too fast on her little baby girl. It had taken Anko and Kakashi quite some time to calm her down and promise her that learning how to read basic words wouldn't overwhelm the toddler as long as they did it in careful dosages. Since then Kakashi and Shiori had taken turns at reading children books with Shiori while tracing the Kanji they were reading at that moment. Shiori relaxed further as she noticed that Hinako really seemed to enjoy those reading sessions and would often toddle into the library after dinner to point out one of her books to them.  
These daily reading sessions also forced Kakashi to communicate more vocally with their daughter, he had never said a lot to her, instead he had loved to listen to her when she babbled, cooed and stumbled over words, those were the most relaxing sounds for him after an exhausting mission.

Concerning his Genin team Kakashi seemed to take a more proactive approach then in the anime of which Shiori knew, she couldn't tell exactly because she was sure there was quite a time skip between the first few Anime episodes. In this world the silver haired Jounin started with correcting Naruto's taijutsu and increasing Sakura's workout, while Sasuke was given speed training and Kata repetitions. But even if he did train his students, the three teenagers didn't seem to get what their sensei was trying to convey with it. Kakashi had come home more than once exasperated at the bickering and screeching teenagers that tested his hearing daily.

After another evening on which Kakashi was close to pouting Shiori finally had enough. She had had a pretty stressful day behind her and Hinako hadn't been very obedient either, their little daughter had started to question each and every decision Shiori made a few days earlier and Shiori hadn't quite figured out yet how to deal with that.

"Kakashi! Tell them what you want from them. They are teenagers. You will have to hit them over the head with the truth for them to understand, ninja or not." came the exasperated from Shiori.

Kakashi stilled and completely turned around to look at Shiori attentively, his wife was clearly aggravated but what she was saying had merit.

"You think so?" he asked interested.

"Yes. Kakashi they are thirteen years old and not you or me. You already went through a war at that time and I had to deal with my whole family dying in one year, then escaped from a marriage, travelled across Fire Country alone and then tried to build up a life in a shinobi village that was at least two hundred times as big as my birth village, where I knew nobody. It was daunting, it was terrifying but we both gritted our teeth and got through it. Those kids have no idea what growing up means yet, not in the way that we had to. Sasuke is probably the most mature of the lot because of the murder of his family but even he was not shoved into cold water afterwards and had to deal with figuring out everything for himself." Shiori tried to explain more.

"So I should just tell them everything right out? Minato sensei always talked in riddles and had me figure things out." Kakashi tried to argue.

"Yes anata, but you are a genius and I'm sure your sensei knew it too and did it as a way to stimulate your intellect. And while your Genins will pick up some of it eventually it won't do anything good right now." Shiori stated.

"Hhm,… maybe you are right." Kakashi said thoughtfully, he would have to try at least, the Jounin knew that he couldn't leave the situation as it was right now.


	34. Chapter 34

**Chapter 34**

Suffice to say that Shiori's suggestion had a pretty big impact. Kakashi came back on the next day and the moment he had kissed both his wife and daughter he walked over to the living room wall and started to hit his head against it.

Shiori looked up alarmed from her paperwork on the dining room table and asked tentatively, "Anata?"

"You were right, they understood NOTHING of the things I tried to convey." the silver haired man said exasperated while he inwardly begged Kami-sama for patience.

The black haired civilian burst into a short laugh before she stood up and gently pried his head away from the wall, "So?"

"I sat the brats down and plainly told them about the reasoning for teamwork, certain basic workouts and speed training. The three stared at me for some time before finally getting it… well at least the blushes were pretty entertaining. I also took Sakura aside and gave her a pretty stern talking about her lack of training outside team meetings and the possible consequences for that. She burst into tears,… I had to sent her home because she wouldn't calm down,… Shiori I have no idea how to deal with that!" at the last part Shiori could see how desperate Kakashi was getting.

She tried, she honestly tried to stay serious but in the end it was a losing battle and she burst into loud laughter while she tried to comfortingly pat his hair.

"See it as training for Hinako's teenage years." she couldn't help but say.

"Dear god, no, no, not in a million years. My baby girl is NOT going to be a fangirl!" tried to deny the horrified father.

"Oh I don't know, it will depend if there are any cute boys in her class." Shiori couldn't help but tease him further.

The strangled yelp and wide eyes of her husband let Shiori smile mischievously; teasing Kakashi like this was absolutely delicious.  
Then the black haired civilian turned somewhat serious, with Kakashi really putting some effort into teaching Team Seven this world had already changed massively and she had no idea how big the repercussions were. Hell the moment she entered his life this world had changed from the cannon she knew. Should she make even bigger waves? Or should she stay as far away from Kakashi's Genin as possible. Another miserable sigh from her husband let her look up; Kakashi really had no idea what to do with his Genin now. Oh well in for a penny, in for a pound.

"Bring them to the house Kakashi, I know you would like to wait longer but I think you guys need a translator, you don't speak quite the same language." the black haired woman said while she shook her head.

"Are you sure? I haven't had them for more than a week yet and they ARE brats." Kakashi answered.

"Yes, don't worry about it." Shiori reassured before she returned to her paperwork.

Selling sweets to the Akimichi had nearly doubled their production and income and she was now scrambling to find not only more suppliers but also contemplating to hire one or two trustworthy employees that would help her take on the additional administrational tasks and the massive amount of paper work.

Going back to her contemplation what had tripped up Team Seven Shiori snorted inwardly, of course it were communication problems between Kakashi and his team that had led to such a disastrous ending of the cannon. Well that wouldn't happening here, she had no intention of leaving Kakashi's team to the same fate.  
Even while she thought that something in the back of her head was spreading doubt, was she really prepared to mess with a time line from which she knew relatively sure that it would turn out well? Of course she couldn't be quite sure because the manga series hadn't been finished yet when Eliza died, but the hero always won didn't he? Unsure her eyes wandered to the window and the red swing that could be seen through it. It had been set up on one of the thicker branches only a weekend ago by Hayate. Well but what if Masashi Kishimoto altered the story to have a happy ending? What if the original path the people of this world had set out on had led to complete destruction? Shiori didn't know and the more she thought about it the more anxious she became about the what if's and what could be's.  
Shiori's musings were interrupted by the loud shriek of Hinako outside in the front yard. Kakashi was throwing her up in the air and then catching her while chuckling warmly and smiling at the little girl in his arms. And suddenly Shiori's anxiousness was gone, this was her life. Yes maybe there had been a story about a timeline in which she hadn't been born into, but THIS was HER world and she would give her damnest to help her loved ones and Kakashi NEEDED for his Genin team to be a success if she ever wanted him to believe that even he could have happiness and contentment. Shiori knew that she couldn't tell ANYONE about her knowledge, not her husband, not their acquaintances and especially not the Hokage. It would get her locked up far away from her family probably for her so called 'protection' and she wouldn't risk it, for nothing in the world. But she could give them nudges in the right direction, advice and a second opinion had never hurt anyone and probably wouldn't change anything if the person refused to take it. Satisfied with her decision Shiori smiled a secretive smile before she returned to the last few pages of the supplying agreement and listened to the happy sounds of her family.

**Interlude: Team Seven**

Kakashi sighed while he leaned against the tree furthest from his students, it looked like Shiori had been right, the three were so obvious it was nearly painful, what the hell had happened to the potential his graduation class had had? Kakashi could remember that none of them had particularly liked him because he had been five at that time, but also that none of them had complained after they were paired off to run deliveries to certain outposts and he could keep up. Sure they were somewhat hostile to his person but they had all concentrated on the mission and suppressed their grudges for the time being. These kids had no idea about acting professionally, even when Sakura pretended like she did, not to mention about working together to achieve the goal of the mission. Although maybe he was a bit unfair, after all they hadn't graduated during a war.  
Kakashi sighed again and prayed that they would be soon finished with weeding. God why did those D-Ranks have to be so boring?

Thankfully after another mind numbing hour they were finished.

"Right, come on guys we have to discuss something." Kakashi called cheerfully and led his team to their normal training grounds.

With a sigh he told them to sit down before he joined them in the grass.

"So can anybody tell me after a week of D-Ranks what the reason for them is?" he asked in the round.

"Somebody has to do them?" Sakura asked tentatively.

"Naruto, Sasuke. What are your opinions?" Kakashi prodded further.

"They are so mind numbing boooring that what they are." Naruto complained and didn't answer the question and Sasuke just hhned.

For the first time they heard the sensei sigh before he said, "Oh dear." and looked up into the sky as if he was praying for something."Okay, you really didn't get the hidden message in them. Damn, Shiori was right."

"Hidden message?" Sakura asked tentatively.

"Yes, D-Ranks have numerous purposes; firstly they are given to newly formed teams so that you can get to know each other, your tempers, your skills, your way to approach a problem. Secondly like this you learn a diverse set of skills that normally only civilians do, which could later be used to infiltrate a town or even a ninja village. Thirdly it gives the Jounin-sensei a way to assess problems in the team work or skill set so that he can fix it. The fourth reason is that they are here to reassure the civilians that we are more or less harmless, it wouldn't do for them to be too scared of us, we need them after all to take care of the village as well as a source of income when they ask for our help." Kakashi started to explain while he kept a close eye on their faces.

He now had the full attention of all three of them and he could clearly see how they frantically absorbed the information and then became embarrassed, the pink cheeks and the way they avoided looking at him was pretty telling. Good, Kakashi thought vindictive that showed them to underestimate a Jounin. In the beginning he had found it quite amusing that they dismissed him like that but in the last few days it had become annoying, he had already become invested in them and disregard of what he had to say was irking him somewhat fierce!

",… Soooo who can tell me why Genin are in three man cells and why Konoha is so set on teamwork?" Kakashi continued cheerfully.

"Be-because the more there are the more likely the mission is a success?" Sakura asked tentatively.

Wow, Kakashi actually felt a bit lost at the moment, what the HELL was being taught in the Academy?

"Right. That certainly is a way of looking at it but no Sakura, that's not the reason. Sasuke? Naruto?" Kakashi sighed.

Both boys looked at each other and shrugged their shoulders before Naruto tentatively said, "Because they can do things I can't?"

"Exactly. A team is put together to compensate for the weaknesses of the individual ninja." Kakashi nodded satisfied, well at least they weren't completely hopeless.

At that Sasuke looked as if he wanted to protest but Kakashi continued without heeding it.

"And don't tell me that you are perfect at everything. There is a reason why specialists get preferential treatment over jack-of-all-traits. Yes with time you can get well rounded in everything but it's more often than not a specific skill that get's you promoted. Furthermore is Konoha famous for it's teamwork and that isn't without reason, it's what made us win or at least end the last three wars in our favor."

"COOL!" Naruto bellowed at that.

"So we just overwhelmed our opponents with teams, isn't that dishonorable?" Sasuke asked somewhat sharply.

"Honor has no place in a war Sasuke. You either survive or you don't and I never said that it was one ninja against one. The sides were most of the time equal in strength, we just knew our comrades and their talents better to combine our strengths and compensate for our weaknesses." Kakashi said in a dead serious voice, "Furthermore we are no Samurai, I'm not sure who has told you about this honor crap, there is chivalry and loyalty between ninja, even enemy ones but most will take an opening when it presents itself."

"But in the Academy we were always called out when we did something underhanded." Sakura interjected.

"What? Are you serious?" asked Kakashi incredulous, "Is that the reason why the number of saboteurs that graduated in the last few years is so small?"

"Saboteurs?" Naruto now asked intrigued.

"It's field of expertise in which you could specialize. I will start you on a specialized skill in a month or two when I know you better and you have mastered teamwork… Right, let's leave the rest for tomorrow. Sasuke, Naruto I want you two to spar. Sakura come with me."

All three Genin nodded and did as they were told.


	35. Chapter 35

**Hi guys,**

**I have to apologize for the lack of updating yesterday but I fear it's going to be the norm for the better part of this week *sigh*- one of my colleagues got seriously ill on Friday and since then I have taken over his hours along side of mine because everybody else is already away on vacation, only me and him were left – figures (Yesterday I worked nearly 10 hours straight – NOT funny) so yeah I try to update but I can't promise because I will probably be completely exhausted when I come home :(**

**Chapter 35**

**Interlude Team Kakashi**

Naruto sighed while he slumped against the tree, once again they would be waiting hours for Kakashi-sensei. He didn't even know why he bothered with getting up in the morning only to have to wait without doing anything. Wistful he thought about his pranking kit that hadn't had any opportunity to shine since his promotion to Genin. And with a content sigh he sank into memories of successful pranks and the following chase through Konoha, there was nothing better to get the blood pumping in the morning. With a Cheshire smirk he thought of all the ANBU operatives that he kept on their toes, maybe they were getting rusty now that they hadn't been pranked for such a long time, Naruto promised himself to rectify that, after all it wouldn't do to let Konoha's finest lose their touch.  
Beside him Sakura-chan was sitting quietly and somewhat subdued, normally she would have babbled endlessly about this or that shop. So whatever Kakashi-sensei had said to her yesterday it had hit her pretty hard to look so down. Naruto promised to stop their sensei should he be so mean again to the pretty pink haired girl.  
Teme on the other hand seemed to relish in the quiet morning, he looked relaxed with his eyes closed and sitting against a tree away from them. He too seemed to be miles away; maybe he was contemplating what Kakashi-sensei had told them yesterday.  
To be honest Naruto felt quite embarrassed about the fact that he had dismissed the D-Ranks and the teamwork as necessary evils to become the Hokage. He had no problem working together with Sakura-chan but Sasuke-teme always refused any sort of help and so as reflex Naruto hadn't wanted to work with him either. Maybe this was going to change now, Naruto knew that if they wanted to become powerful ninja they needed to learn as much as possible, even if it wasn't cool stuff. At the last part Naruto started to pout again, he hadn't imagined his shinobi career like this.

"Well, well if those aren't my cute little students slacking off. Good morning." Kakashi cheerfully said from above them.

"Kakashi-sensei, you ARE,… wait you aren't late,… WHO THE HELL ARE YOU." bellowed Naruto.

"Mou, I'm hurt Naruto-kun, why are you asking this?" the person that couldn't be Kakashi-sensei said.

"Because he is always at least two hours late!" Sakura intercepted with her arms crossed in front of her body.

With an agreeing "Hhn." Sasuke ended their conclusion.

Kakashi looked at the three in front of him and snorted, "Brats, all three of you. Just because I had an exceptional bad week doesn't mean that I'm always late."

„Not true, I asked one of the ninja at the mission office and he told me to get used to it because you are always late to everything!" Sakura bellowed while she pointed an accusing finger at the silver haired man in front of her.

Kakashi just chuckled and rubbed his neck before he gave them an eye smile and said, "Come one you three I want to introduce you to someone."

"Wait Kakashi-sensei, we are not training?"

"Yes we are but later, first you are going to meet someone important to me. Actually two someones."

In anticipation of meeting Team Seven Shiori took the next day completely off from any paperwork or other duties and waited for her husband to show up with his students. When she first caught glimpse of them through the window she winced inwardly. Naruto was looking sulkily, Sasuke thoughtful and Sakura was looking at the ground while she was dragging her feet. Oh dear.

Purposefully Shiori ignored the opening front door and continued to busy herself with making a big breakfast and only looked up when Hinako's excited cry of "Tou-chan" echoed through the room. Shiori smiled at her husband who lifted the little toddler into his arms and motioned the three gaping teens behind him to walk in.

The black haired civilian removed the last pancakes from the pans and then greeted them warmly, "Hello you three, welcome to our home."

"Thank you for having us." came the reflexive answer from a stunned Sakura while Sasuke just hhned and Naruto simply gaped at Shiori before he shouted, "Shiori-nee!"

Naruto's outburst elicited a wounded whine from Hinako and a glare from Kakashi.

"Naruto-kun it's nice to see you but please use your inside voice here. Both my husband and daughter have enhanced hearing and shouting hurts their ears." the young mother explained gently while moving the plates to the table, "I hope you are hungry."

Naruto looked properly chastised for a moment before he nodded enthusiastically while Sasuke looked at her more closely and Sakura blushed while she sent the pretty woman glances from out of the corner of her eye.

"Well come on you three, sit down." Kakashi addressed his students and nodded at the table while he situated Hinako in the newest Mokuton high chair, Tenzo had made a new one after the last one had grown to be a little too small for Hinako.

"Why and what and when,..." Naruto spluttered while he looked frantically from Shiori to Kakashi to the small little toddler between them.

"Ah well Naruto, when a man and a woman,…" Kakashi didn't came very far before Shiori put a hand in front of his still clothed mouth, for that meeting Kakashi had decided to keep his mask on.

"Don't even think about it anata, you KNOW that it will be me who has the answer the questions to that particular topic when Hinako wants to know and I certainly DON'T want to give our daughter THAT talk yet." Shiori said in a very sweet voice that promised violence at the end.

The little toddler in question only cocked her head while she looked at her parents with big eyes.

"Ah,… right." Kakashi said somewhat sheepishly.

"I'm sorry for my husband, I'm afraid he likes to tease people. My name is Hatake Shiori but I go with Inoue Shiori in public, it's nice to meet you." the black haired civilian than said to the three shinobi in training.

"Ah,... Haruno Sakura, thank you for having us once again." The pink haired young girl stuttered somewhat while her eye frantically wandered between Kakashi and Shiori.

"Hhn, Uchiha Sasuke." the broody black haired boy said while he coolly assessed the woman in front of him as a civilian and not a threat.

"Uzumaki Naruto, but you know that already Shiori-neechan, but why are you going by Inoue if you are married to Kakashi-sensei?" the hyperactive blonde wanted to know.

"It's because I'm a civilian Naruto-kun, I would be a convenient target should someone want to hurt or blackmail Kakashi. Oh and please help yourself to the food." The young mother explained before she pointed at the filled plates in front of them.

All three teenagers looked contemplatively at the woman across from them before digging into the food and sending curious glances at the Hatake family but none of them quite dared to ask further questions.

Shiori herself took care of feeding Hinako in the beginning before switching with Kakashi and taken a few bites herself. Sakura looked at Shiori's plate that had only half of what she had put on her plate and stopped eating while she looked guiltily away and said that she was on a diet.

"Sakura-chan you are a growing girl, a ninja at that. You need to eat if you want to get stronger." Shiori said seriously to the pink haired girl in front of her.

"But mom says I will get fat if I eat that much,…" the younger female tried to justify herself.

"Don't be ridiculous Sakura you are a kunoichi, kunoichis don't get fat if they exercise right. It's more likely that you get killed if you don't have the strength to defend yourself." the silver haired Jounin seriously said while he stopped his daughter from using the three Genin in front of her as baby food target practice.

"Huh?" came the wide eyed answer from his only female student.

"What have they been teaching you in the Academy? A normal Genin needs at least two to three times as much food as an adult civilian to keep up the energy they are burning through chakra usage. Some clan kids need even more. This should have been told to all civilian parents in the first year of the Academy." Kakashi frowned while he looked at his student in a new light.

If it had it been ignorance and parental pressure that prevented Sakura from reaching her full potential he would have to do something about it and fast. Maybe even talk about it with the Academy senseis.

"Really?" Naruto explained now confused, "So that's why I'm always hungry and Iruka-sensei scolds me when I'm only eating Ramen?"

Sasuke sent a glance at his two teammates and cocked his head somewhat, he had thought that they were foolish for not adhering to the strict diet for shinobi that had been a given in his clan. To now learn that they had no idea about it was quite shocking and surprisingly enough he felt some indignation on their behalf. Somebody had, purposefully or not, prevented them from reaching their full potential, and in Sakura's case this could have easily led to her death. He didn't like the fangirl but he also didn't wish her dead, especially now that she was his teammate. Before Kakashi-sensei had explained yesterday the reason for teams and teamwork as well as the thoughts behind D-Rank missions he had resented both loudmouths as well as their lazy sensei, after all they were slowing down his training. Now, now he wasn't so sure; he had drawn a lot of conclusions without asking for the why and Sasuke HATED being proven wrong, so he would wait a bit longer to form an opinion about Team Seven.

Kakashi and Shiori looked at each other, one quite serious while the other worried, they would have to fix that or the kids growth could be stunt.

"Okay, we are going to talk about this later until then Sakura-chan eat some more, you really need it." Kakashi decided.

The young Haruno looked shyly at her sensei and nodded before she dug in like her male team mates. For the next twenty minutes there wasn't a lot of talk while they ate breakfast and Kakashi sneaked food in plain daylight and with his mask on, which irked his students immensely.

Shiori just watched the whole thing amused, she was curious if Kakashi would keep the mask charade up or if he let his students in on the secret underneath, either way it would probably be entertaining.  
After the three adolescents were full Kakashi led them outside to the rarely used dojo and training field. While the silver haired Jounin had his students run through the typical warm up katas and flexibility exercises Shiori hastily cleaned up the dishes before she followed them outside.

Hinako had been pretty silent throughout the breakfast and was now staring fascinated at what Team Seven was doing. The black haired civilian didn't completely trust her daughter to not suddenly dash over to her father and the three kids that seemed to have caught her interest. And so she made sure to always have her in grabbing distance, which seemed to annoy Hina-chan quite a bit. The problem was thankfully solved when in a show of demonstration Kakashi summoned his pack and Bisuke and Urushi instantly made a beeline to the two of them. The moment the dogs arrived in her vicinity Shiori relaxed her guard and left the overall watch to her husband's ninken, which gave her daughter enough roaming space that she didn't threw a tantrum, because as cute as Hinako could be, she now had entered the face that was called the 'terrible two' in another world.  
Only two days ago Kakashi and Shiori had decided that because they loved their daughter they would set up certain rules so that she wouldn't become a spoiled princess. And one of them was that when mummy or daddy said something, Hina-chan had to obey. Said rule had been met with a pouty face that nearly broke Kakashi's resolve but in the end he had prevailed. One can just hope that he would keep that resolve.

Now that she had a little bit more freedom Hinako instantly vanished into the bushes close to the house for a game of hide and seek. Shiori snorted at the sigh both dogs released before they followed her. Stretching her hands a bit the black haired woman's eyes fell onto the notebook she had brought with her. With a thoughtful hum she began to write.

After finishing with writing Shiori stretched once more and then walked back to the house. The black haired civilian made her way to her garden tools and then started to tend to the raspberry bushes and plucked the first ripe ones off the shrubs. When she saw that Kakashi was letting the team take a break she carried some water bottles and a bowl with the just plucked berries over to them. She gave Zeke and Bull an affectionate pat on the back one the way over; they too were now participating in Hinako's game of hide and seek. Behind her back she could hear the bushes rustle and a muffled giggle that put a smile on her lips.

When she had reached the group Shiori handed over first the water and then the bowl before sitting down beside them in the grass and handing over the three plain notebooks she written into.

"What's that?" Naruto asked curious when he opened his on the first page.

"An overview of your skills." Shiori explained after taking a sip from her water bottle, "You have spent the last six years in a grading system so I think it will be easier for you if you write your skills down in the beginning so that you can decide which of them you want to improve or what else you want to learn."

One the first page the ninja-in-training found a generic record sheet with things like name, age, weight and height. On the following side was only a giant headline that proclaimed 'skills' to them.

All three Genin looked at each other before nodding and taking the pens Shiori held out for them, this made sense to them, like this they could hopefully track their progress.

Kakashi wandered back over to them after setting up the targets in the trees and took a look at what his Genin were doing with his wife. He had heard Shiori's last sentence and thought that it did made sense but that it was still somewhat irresponsible to leave something like this unsecured around, he would have to do something about that too. Inwardly the silver haired Jounin sighed; being a sensei was a lot more work than he had anticipated.

"…, but how do we know how good we are?" Sakura asked frustrated.

Shiori snorted slightly before she pointed at her husband, "You have a sensei don't you?"

As an answer Sakura turned red and vanished back into the note book.


	36. Chapter 36

**Chapter 36**

It didn't take them longer than a few moments fill out the first page and then they started to contemplate the second one.

"So,… should we put down the ninjutsus we know?" Naruto asked confused.

"And everything else you learned,… or what you think that is important." Shiori answered before she stood up, stretched and then ambled back to the playing pan.

"Start with the Taijutsu styles you know." Kakashi interjected.

All three of the Genin wrote down the 'Little Leaf' style that was practiced in the Academy and Sasuke also wrote down 'Swift Paw' style underneath it.

"How much do you know about 'Swift Paw' Sasuke?" Kakashi asked interested, that was an Uchiha only style after all.

"Only the basics." Sasuke finally grunted in frustration.

"Hhm, I will give you some help with that later; I had an Uchiha on my Genin team." The silver haired Jounin explained surprisingly open, "Now what of the Academy E-ranks can you do?"

"All of them." Both Sasuke and Sakura supplied.

"…, I can't use the stupid Clone Technique." Naruto grumbled.

"But you are using clones now in massive amounts." Sakura said confused.

"That's because Naruto has a lot more chakra then you guys, as a result his control is not very good and so he can't do the simple Clone Technique. What he is using is the chakra expensive Jounin version." Kakashi answered in his student's stead.

"Oh,… I always wondered. But wait Jounin technique? Naruto has enough chakra for using a Jounin technique nearly constantly?" the pink haired kunoichi said incredulous while she stared at her teammate who looked sheepishly to the side and rubbed his neck.

"Yes but he is an exception to the rule so I don't want either you or Sasuke to try yet. There is a reason why Genin aren't taught Jounin techniques. You DO know why that is, don't you?"

When all three shook their heads, Kakashi closed his eye for a second before breathing deeply in.

"It's because you would either collapse and be out for a day or more at best, or the worst case scenario would be that it kills you." Kakashi said dead serious while he looked at his students.

His three kids looked suddenly very pale and gulped while they stared at their sensei, no they hadn't known that.

"What about your trap techniques?" the silver haired sensei continued.

"Only the basics." Sakura said after some thinking.

"Up to the medium hard ones." Sasuke followed up.

"All of them!" Naruto crowed in delighted, "Haha take that Sasuke-teme!" after all traps were one of his TALENTS and not something that he just couldn't help like his chakra capacity.

"NARUTO! Stop being rude to Sasuke-kun!" Sakura screeched as reflex while Sasuke just tsked.

"Sakura." The oldest Hatake's voice held something dangerous in it because all three of the Genins snapped to attention, "I thought Shiori told you about Hinako-chan's and mine enhanced hearing."

"Ah,… Go-gomen Kakashi-sensei." The fangirl stuttered mortified, she had listened yesterday and today and wanted to change herself but habits were so hard to kick.

„Furthermore I don't think that Sasuke needs you to defend him, he can speak up for himself." Kakashi continued while he looked seriously at his female student.

The girl now looked crushed and close to tears.

"Kakashi-sensei, don't be so mean to Sakura-chan." Naruto tried to interfere.

"She has to learn that such a behavior is not acceptable as a kunoichi, better she learns it now then when a superior has to reprimand her on a mission and she gets written up for it. Such a mark could seriously impede a promotion." Kakashi answered calmly.

He hadn't thought about it until now but he really shouldn't have let this behavior continue so long, it only hurt Sakura in the future because people always chose to work with the person that had a clean record instead of the one with a reprimand.

Sakura really looked she would start to cry any minute now, so to let a bit up on her Kakashi turned to Naruto and said, "The same concerns you Naruto, you aren't a student anymore. You are a ninja of Konoha and are expected to act like one. Pranks were fine up until now but you really should carefully consider what you do from now on. The shopkeepers can sue you for property damage now, which can get quite expensive and if you can't pay it they can even have you put into jail."

Both Sakura and Naruto looked horrified at that, even Sasuke's eyes became wide. None of the three had really acknowledged that from now on they were accountable for their actions like any other adult.

"And lastly Sasuke, I know that you are not a natural sunshine and that's not the problem but your stoicism and pride more often than not looks like arrogance and that could seriously offend others. So be more careful how you act around people, be it clients or comrades."

"B-but Sasuke-kun is so cool like that." Sakura gasped out.

"Cool or not it's bad for business and in the wrong company it could even cause a whole lot of problems. The moment you guys pass the Jounin exam this changes again, people will even expect some eccentricities but right now you are still lowly Genin so remember that." Kakashi's voice broke no argument.

The silver haired Jounin would have loved that piece of information before he had entered ANBU. Until then Minato-sensei had shielded him from the backlash of most of his actions. In ANBU his behavior had landed him on a lot of fucked up missions during the first few months until he had built up such a reputation that his superiors grudgingly respected him, the reputation was what had made them back off and this had probably saved his life because no matter how good he was, one day the load of those grueling missions would have killed him. this was also why he had changed his attitude in public, of course Obito' death had also played a big role but his laid back attitude originated mostly from the hard earned lesson in ANBU.

Sasuke looked outraged for a moment before he became more contemplative and than hhned thoughtfully before giving Kakashi a reluctant nod.

"So what? We have to be all serious and stuff like that?" Naruto said somewhat disgruntled.

"Not really, I don't want you to change your personality; I just want you to think before you do something." Kakashi placated the blonde before him.

"Oh,… okay I will try Kakashi-sensei." the Kyuubi container said somewhat appeased, his pink haired teammate also quickly nodded, though she still looked uncomfortable with the situation.

After that had been cleared up somewhat Kakashi continued to help them sort through the knowledge they had acquired throughout the Academy time and the more he heard the more frustrated he became. Those kids, HIS Genin hadn't even a fraction of the education he had received during his time, during the ONE year he had spent in the Academy. If this continued like this he really would have to go to the Hokage and bring up the fact that they seemed to have learned next to nothing that could one day save their lives. Instead they had amassed a ton of useless information that probably would never come up again as well as some very bad habits that were going to be a lot of work to correct.  
Kakashi sighed while he once more prayed for patience; this was going to be a right chore no matter how he looked at it. The silver haired Jounin smiled somewhat bitterly, was that karma that struck him now that he himself was a sensei? No matter, he already had become invested in his knuckleheads and he would prepare them as thorough as possible for their shinobi career, he just hoped that on the way to that he didn't fuck up big somewhere.

"Okay guys, I think this covers the major parts for now, I now want you to think about your strengths and what you think you should learn to facilitate them." the Jounin sighed while he stretched somewhat.

Kakashi had sat himself beside the three teenagers sometime after explaining their most obvious flaws and looked now and then over their shoulders to read what they were writing down. After the oldest shinobi had stopped talking Naruto looked a bit confused at what Kakashi had said.

"I mean what skills would support your own." The silver haired Jounin clarified while he ruffled the blonde hair in reaching distance.

As a result Naruto pouted but quickly started to concentrate on the task on hand.  
They were deeply in a discussion about the different specializations when Shiori called them for lunch. The kids still looked unsure about how they should react to her but readily enough followed her instructions of washing up. When they entered the living room again their path was obstructed by a determined Hinako who toddled to them and then demanded nonverbally to be lifted up by Sasuke. Said dark haired Genin didn't know what to do and looked with somewhat big eyes at Shiori who giggled at them behind the kitchen counter.

"Come on teme, I'm sure she doesn't bite." Naruto goaded his teammate while he grinned at the cute silver haired toddler.

The only direct contact with younger kids that he had, was with Konohamaru and his friends as well as the one disastrous babysitting mission two days ago that had led to him being covered with baby powder. Now that he thought back, Kakashi-sensei had been strangely adept at fixing the mistakes they had made, he probably had more than enough practice back at home. Returning to the situation at hand Naruto grinned and watched very interested Sasuke's dilemma.

Hinako was annoyed; the pretty black haired boy kept staring at her with a nearly helpless look and didn't DO anything. So with a sigh that her mother always used when daddy or her uncles did something they shouldn't the toddler pouted up at the pretty boy and tugged at his shorts once more before opening her mouth and saying, "Carry me." in her most commanding voice.

Until now that tone of voice had never failed to get her indulging smiles and whatever she wanted from her uncles. And just as she had predicted the dark eyed boy lifted her somewhat awkwardly up and into his arms. Hinako moved a bit to test how much wriggle room she had before she wrapped her arms around his neck and contently sighed. Secured like this she started to take in the scent of the male that was carrying her, it was a curious mix of salt, metal and something earthy underneath. The blue eyed little girl also noted that the metal scent wasn't as strong as the one of her daddy and uncles, and that the overall mixture was pretty pleasant to her nose. Hhm, she would probably keep him, Hinako decided generously while she petted his soft black hair that was defying gravity on the back of his head.

Behind an out of his depth Sasuke a sniggering Naruto leaned against the couch and tried to suppress the belly laughter that tried to make their way out of his body. Sakura seemed to be torn between being entranced by the scene and jealous of the attention Hinako was receiving from Sasuke.

"Hajimemashite." the toddler carefully pronounced but still stumbled over a few syllables, "I'm Hinako-chan."

Sasuke's mouth twitched while he greeted back and even in full sentences, "Hello. My name is Uchiha Sasuke. It's nice to meet you too."

After another moment of staring at his features Hina-chan stated with a happy smile on her face, "You are pretty."

Behind them Naruto finally lost it and was crying tears while he still tried to suppress the peals of laughter that escaped him. The braying noises let Hinako's eyes become even wider while she unconsciously tried to hide in Sasuke's neck. Said Uchiha's cheeks had turned light pink while he bemused petted his sensei's daughter's hair.  
Girls were confusing no matter the age, was the only thing that went through his head. Beside him Sakura squawked horrified, she was now getting competition from a toddler!

The whole scene was watched by a very amused Shiori who hid her own laugher in her husband's chest. She could feel his chest shudder with amusement while his arms went around her waist and he kept his eye on his daughter and Genins antics. This was undeniably the start of a very entertaining relationship.

**I wish you all a very merry Christmas or whatever else you are celebrating!**


	37. Chapter 37

**Chapter 37**

It took some time before everyone, aka Naruto, had calmed down once again but then they all worked themselves through lunch while Shiori kept up a light conversation with all of the Genins.

"Your cooking is fantastic, nee-chan!" Naruto exclaimed as he stuffed his face with seconds, very intend on getting thirds if possible.

"Naruto is right, Hatake-san. It is delicious." Sakura agreed while she took another heap of the fried rice.

Beside them Sasuke just nodded before he continued to slurp the Miso soup with eggplants, one of Kakashi's own favorite.

"Thank you, you three. Sakura-chan you can call me Shiori if you want. Oh and you are always welcome to drop by at any time and eat here." The black haired civilian assured them while she took a bite out of the Gyoza dumpling.

While the Genins had been occupied with washing up she had a quick conversation with her husband about their diet and Kakashi had agreed somewhat pained that it probably was a good idea to have them over as often as possible to check their calorie intake. There went his safe haven from his obnoxious students.

"We couldn't,…" Sakura tried to protest but her eyes had a hopeful shine in them, maybe like this she could avoid the confrontation with her mother about her increased food intake.

"Of course you can, it will also make things a lot easier because we will meet here from now on in the mornings. The training area and dojo are big enough for what I have planned to show you in the next few weeks. On the afternoons we will run missions like always." Kakashi added after he had finished with eating.

"Thanks Kakashi-sensei, Shiori-neechan!" Naruto exclaimed, surprisingly in a moderate voice, he seemed to have taken Kakashi's reprimand about loud noises in Hinako's vicinity to heart.

"…, Thank you." Sasuke said while he stared at his empty plate, he wasn't sure what to make of this situation but his heart clenched slightly, he hadn't had homemade food for a very long time.

"This is very generous Shiori-san but isn't that going to strain your household budget?" Sakura asked worriedly, she knew that groceries weren't that cheap, even if you bought them in bulk at the market and ninja seemed to need a lot more than civilians.

Kakashi chuckled slightly while he reached over the table and ruffled his female student's hair, which elicited a slight blush from her; maybe the question was a bit too personal. But to be honest she quite liked the fact that Kakashi-sensei was treating her so affectionately, her father was a lot cooler and didn't spent a lot of time with his only child.

"Both Shiori and me earn enough to support you guys, don't worry." Kakashi's voice had a very warm undertone while he told his students this.

As a result all three of them blushed and looked down. Especially for Naruto and Sasuke this form of reassurance was something they had rarely received. Throughout his life Naruto only got it from the Hokage and Iruka-sensei, while Sasuke suddenly painfully missed his mother and loath he admit it, his brother.

"A-ano, you work Shiori-san?" Sakura asked tentatively.

The pink haired teenager found it a bit strange that her sensei's wife worked, Shiori was clearly a civilian and even more so she had a young child at home. Her own mother had been a stay-at-home-wife and later mother right from the beginning of her marriage and she still only took care of the household now that Sakura was already a Genin.

"Yes Sakura-chan, I own Mariko's tea house across from the stadium." Shiori explained kindly to the confused civilian born, she knew that married civilian women normally stayed at home and let their husband take care of them.

"O-oh,… oh wow, the sweets there are really good." The now excited thirteen year old exclaimed.

"Thank you." Shiori laughed while their conversation than changed to their favorite desserts.

While the two females talked animated about the sugary treats, Kakashi silently stood up and started to carry the plates to the kitchen, after a quick glance at each other Naruto and Sasuke followed in his example.

"What are we going to do now, Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked after they had filled up the newly acquired dishwasher, a new invention from Snow Country that had arrived a few months prior and was in hot demand in the ninja village right now.

"Well first I will help you seal your notebooks so that only you can access it, leaving information like that lying around is just stupid and after that I thought that we could complete at least two D-Rank missions to practice your teamwork before you guys can go home." Kakashi answered.

Both adolescent males nodded at that before turning back to their pink haired teammate who was looking with sparkling eyes at Shiori, it seemed as if she had found a new role model.  
Kakashi felt some satisfaction at that, he really would have to investigate her home situation and that sometime soon, but until then his wife would hopefully help him steer Sakura into the right direction. The girl wasn't stupid, far from it and she had her moments in which she was quite mature and insightful, but then those were destroyed by sudden bursts of immaturity that frankly flabbergasted Kakashi.

The silver haired Jounin was ripped out of his thoughts when Hinako toddled closer to him and tiredly lifted her arms. He chuckled warmly while he carried her into the next room where her after lunch nap bed stood.

"Goodnight daddy." She mumbled tiredly, Hinako always swallowed parts of her words when she was close to sleep.

"Goodnight sweetheart." He answered her while he pulled the day blanket over her form and shaded the room.

All three of his Genin looked more or less fascinated while they watched him handle Hinako and then followed him as silently as possible out of the house and returned to the training area beside the dojo.

There Kakashi showed them the seal with which they could seal their notebook into a scroll and then added the signs for the blood security seal that was used by Tokubetsu Jounin and above.

"This seal is normally not shown to Genin because most of them don't need it. Your notebooks will contain a lot of information about yourself, so better save then sorry in my opinion. It will take quite a bit more chakra than a normal seal, about three times as much but the price is definitely worth it. Sakura, Sasuke this will also help you increase your chakra capacity, the more often you use your chakra the bigger your reserves will get. Sakura I advise you to NOT reseal this book more often than four times a day, simply because you will need the rest of your chakra for training and missions. Sasuke fifteen times is okay, seventeen will push it." The silver haired Jounin further explained.

All three Genin nodded to what he was saying and then watched fascinated as the written Fuinjutsu texts vanished alongside their notebooks when they put their bloody finger in the middle and pushed chakra into it. Left behind was the curved word _Seal_.

All three Genin tugged their scrolls away before they turned to Kakashi to fulfill their daily quota of D-Rank missions.

They hadn't left the compound yet when Kakashi addressed his students once more, "I hope I don't have to tell you that the knowledge about my family has to remain between us."

All three teens looked at him confused before Sasuke's eyes widened and he asked tentatively, "Is that because of the kidnappings?"

"Yes. Just like you I was the last of my bloodline. No one of my enemies knows that I have a family. No one of my peers knows that I have a family." Kakashi said while he looked straight ahead, "Only the Hokage and a few of my closest friends and you three know about them, it's safer this way."

"Are kidnappings that common?" Sakura asked shocked.

"Yes, even the big clans like the Hyuuga, Aburame and Uchiha had countless attempts throughout the years." Kakashi said while closing the gate behind them and looking around, nobody was in sight, good.

"Is that why people were keeping an eye on me?" Sasuke finally interrupted the stunned silence that hung between them for two streets.

"Yes, well it was a mix of things, protection from kidnappings from other villages, from Itachi but also to make sure that you aren't poisoned, that you don't commit suicide or start killing people." Kakashi said somewhat airy

Naruto and Sakura gaped at their dark haired teammate while said Uchiha just took it all in before hhning unsurely.

"So no talking?" Sakura asked desperately to change the topic once more.

"No talking." Kakashi confirmed dead seriously before entering the mission office.

It was interesting how a few explanations changed so much in his Genins team dynamic, Kakashi thought idly while he slowly made his way to the meeting with Iruka at the Academy. They were still not working together as well as he hoped but at least they were trying. He would have to watch if they kept this improvement up or fell back into their old habits in the next few days and weeks.

With a tired sigh Kakashi entered the building and searched for Iruka-sensei's chakra signature, he had asked the chunin for a meeting after collecting the second D-Rank for his team.

With a lazy walk he entered the classroom on his left and found the Academy teacher bent over his desk, working his way through what looked like mission reports.

"Iruka-sensei." he greeted lazily.

"Oh, Kakashi-sensei,… you are… right on time." the Chunin said somewhat lost.

"Oh really, I thought I was too early." the silver haired Jounin answered nonchalant.

He was perfectly aware that he was right on time and he wasn't happy about this but he had a date with a storybook and his cute daughter later on, so he had to hurry. But there was no way he was ever going to admit this to the younger man in front of him.

",… Eh right." Iruka-sensei sweatdropped and tried to regain his composure, "So what did you want to talk about?" he finally asked curious.

"All my students, but most Sakura and Naruto." Kakashi said and became a lot more serious.

"Is there something wrong?" Iruka asked concerned, his students were important to him, especially Naruto.

"Yes, Sakura-chan had no idea how much a Genin needed to eat and even dieted because her mother told her she would get fat if she ate too much." came Kakashi's reply while he concentrated on the other's body language.

Iruka nearly fell of his chair when he heard that, "WHAT? But, but,… they parents were told in the first year about this. It is in the curriculum, along with an optional dietary plan,…" Iruka said aghast.

"That's what I thought too." Kakashi said somewhat relieved, he had always thought that Umino Iruka was one of the more competent Chunin and he was glad that he hadn't been mistaken.

"I'm sorry Kakashi-sensei, I can't tell you a lot about their education through the first three years, I got them when they entered their fourth year after Kirihara-sensei died during a mission." Iruka further explained.

"Now this is very interesting, can you tell me what they should have learned during those three years?" Kakashi asked curious, he had a vague suspicion.

"Sure. I can even give you're the syllabus." the scarred Chunin agreed and fished out a stack of papers out of one of his drawers.

With a curious look Kakashi started to flip through the stack of papers, and his eyebrow rose and rose. The written out curriculum wasn't that different from the one he had and all the gaping holes that he found in his students education happened mostly throughout the first three years.

"This is very interesting." Kakashi finally concluded.

"Did you find something?" Iruka asked curious.

"Since I got my team I noticed certain knowledge gaps, gaps that all three of them had and I have been wondering for some time now." Kakashi explained.

The silver haired Jounin then put the syllabuses for the first three years under Iruka's nose and pointed out certain topics that he had found missing in his kids education.

"Most of them should have been taught in the first three years. Especially the do's and don'ts about jutsus. I had to EXPLAIN to my three thirteen year old Genin why Genin normally weren't allowed to do Jounin level jutsus and the repercussions of not heeding this advice." His incredulousness shined through his normal aloofness.

Iruka looked sick while it dawned to him what had happened, "B-but they have been USING jutsus already when I took them over,… I just presumed,… oh god."

"And because a third of your students came from clans and most likely knew most of these things through their families it didn't shine up so glaringly. But the civilians,..."

"The civilians were left behind and that's probably why the failed the Genin and Team test. I think I'm going to be sick! Kirihara-sensei didn't teach only one class,… if he did that with more than one generation, or if it was more than one sensei that was so irresponsible…"

"We need to tell the Hokage about this. This is a sabotage of the shinobi forces and could seriously hurt not only this graduation year but also Konoha's reputation." Kakashi now said dead serious, "Who is in charge of the Sensei-Academy?"

"Noboue-sensei but he is nothing more than a face for Elder Danzo. Everybody knows that if you want to become a sensei you better not have pissed off Elder Danzo." Iruka said with distaste.

"Interesting, that's… very interesting." The silver haired Jounin said before turning back to the curriculum and point out the knowledge gaps to Iruka-sensei.


	38. Chapter 38

**Chapter 38**

Suffice to say Hokage-sama was less then amused when he found out that somebody had been messing with the education of Konoha's future ninja.

In less than twenty minutes every last Academy teacher in Konoha was tracked down by ANBU teams and handed over in a hush hush operation to the not so tender care of the T&I. What followed was what Konoha's ninja corps would from then on call the 'Academy Cleansing'. From the twenty three active teaching shinobi, three were being bribed to purposefully NOT teach civilian students certain things, two were genuinely incompetent, four were only doing a halfhearted job and to the horror of all involved there was one genuine pedophile.

Sarutobi Hiruzen was speechless, nearly half of the teachers in the Academy were not suitable for educating or purposefully missteaching and these ninja had had a hand in the development of Konoha's future. No wonder the amount of Jounin and Tokubetsu Jounin had been going down in the last few years.  
But what had made the old Hokage really furious was the apparent interference of Danzo. When the investigators had tried to track down the drop outs of the last ten years they made a horrible discovery, while three-fourths of them had settled down as civilians with normal jobs, the last fourth that contained probably the most talented of them had mysteriously vanished in the months after graduation.  
Hiruzen had a pretty good idea what had happened to them.

It had taken the investigators less than four hours to come to this conclusion and to Hiruzen's relief the whole operation had not leaked in some way. He had no idea if it was chance or the will of the gods that his teammates and Danzo were occupied with the newest intelligence report of the happenings in Kumo and so suitably distracted but this gave his team of interrogators time to mind walk the two bribed Chunins as well as do a head count on the former Academy students that WOULDN'T return to the academy the next semester for another try.  
And then they found proof of Danzo's questionable actions, a missing child.

Tsukiko-chan, a twelve year old orphan had vanished a few days ago and nobody had seen her since.

The brown haired girl had been third in class behind Sakura and Sasuke and had also shown a talent in Genjutsu but in the end had failed the test their Jounin-sensei had given them. Because of her quiet nature she had not a lot of friends and had lived in one of the apartments for orphaned Academy students since she had turned ten.  
The moment this became known to Hiruzen, the old man put two Inuzuka ANBU on her trail and thankfully the hunt paid off; they found her along with a very interesting hidden training facility and fifteen other children between the ages of four and ten alongside with four white masked shinobi.

Tsukiko and the white masked ninja couldn't talk; a curious seal prevented them from talking about anything that happened inside the facility or about who actually was behind this all. Luckily some of the younger children were still unsealed and all agreed that they had been introduced to an old one eyed man with bandages over his face and arm. But the most damning fact that proved Danzo's involvement was his scent, the Inuzuka pair had picked it up when they had searched the facility after the ANBU teams had subdued the masked children, the Elder's scent was still lingering in the halls and rooms of the training facility and this was the final straw that broke the camel's back.

Sarutobi was unbelievably incensed that Danzo really dared to go so far directly under his nose; it was incredibly insulting to the Sarutobi clan head. Hiruzen admitted that he had been a lot to forgiving and lax in years after Minato's death and that he had given his teammates and rival too much freedom in Konoha's happenings but that he also had never thought that the old war hawk would be so depraved to do this to children. Worse to THEIR children, the children of Konoha they all had sworn to protect when they had become Genins.  
Since Kakashi had informed him about his family the old Hokage had taken a closer look at his old rival to prevent said man from interfering with the family of the only really viable Hokage candidate in Konoha until Kakashi had enough support from his peers to head the interference off. The third Hokage hadn't found anything solid during his enquiries but the rumors and hints that he received had made Sarutobi feel sick. The man had enough experience to know that these rumors always, ALWAYS contained at least a tiny grain of truth. The old warmonger clearly had his fingers in too many pies around Konoha and outside of it. The mess with the Uchiha massacre should have been warning signal enough that Danzo was clearly not doing what was best for Konoha and its citizens. Hiruzen was now fearing that if he left his beloved village even a moment longer at the mercy of that man it would change for the worse until nothing was left of the legacy the first Hokage had entrusted to them.

The head of the Sarutobi clan knew that he couldn't just put Danzo on trial, they needed iron clad proof to convict Danzo as well as keep this under wraps as much as possible, Konoha really didn't need this kind of blow to their reputation, especially not now that they had agreed to host the Chunin exams. At least Danzo had no relatives left so there wouldn't be a lot of investigation into his sudden death, Hiruzen thought sardonically and he would be able to keep his old teammates under control, after all it was THEIR idea to keep such things from the general population.  
Everything aside there was another problem they had, nobody of Hiruzen's people had an idea how big Root was and what they would do the moment Danzo was arrested or found dead. They would have to do the conviction, trial and penalty today, when possible as fast as possible to not give the old war hawk any way to escape it. For this to happen as cleanly as possible he needed careful planning and the help of his most loyal and powerful. Hiruzen sighed, he could feel the headache coming, coordinating this without tipping of Danzo or Homura and Koharu was going to be a right chore if not impossible.

So the first thing he did after coming to his final conclusion was sending for Nara Shikaku and then Hatake Kakashi. When his Jounin Commander arrived and saw his grave expression, the normally laid back Nara head became even more relaxed than normal, a clear sign that he his remarkable brain was working on full speed and ready for anything. Wordlessly Hiruzen handed over the file Inoichi had compiled about Danzo's confirmed and speculated transgressions and focused on the just arrived head of the Hatake clan.

"Hokage-sama!?" the silver haired Jounin stated more than asked in his typical laid back voice.

"I'm moving against Danzo." the Sandaime said while he looked gravely at Kakashi, he hated the fact that he had to use the young father in his move but there were few who could be trusted fully at the moment, "I need you to put a team together to subdue him, you have an hour, go."

Kakashi nodded wordlessly and vanished from the secure room under the Hokage office. His thoughts were racing while he moved as fast as possible to Gai's preferred training ground, he would need as much back up as possible, Shimura Danzo was not a ninja to be taken lightly, especially not now. He arrived just to see Gai and his student Lee getting worked up about this or that. Not in the mood to deal with Gai's eccentrics he released a rapid chakra pattern that instantly had the attention of Gai.

"Kakashi?" Gai asked in a serious tone that had his team gaping at him.

"Code Zero, get changed." was the only reply Kakashi gave him before vanishing back into the trees.

He contacted Genma, Yugao, Anko, Raido, Asuma and Kurenai pretty much the same way thankfully most of them were alone, only Kurenai was also with her team. After that he returned to his home, where he had told his team to go when the Hokage had sent an ANBU operative for him.  
To be honest Kakashi still couldn't believe the fact that he had been able to keep his family a secret from Konoha's black ops that long, even with the help of his friends and trusted colleagues. While the silver haired Jounin shunshined back from contacting the red eyed kunoichi his mind was rapidly working through the different scenarios of what could happen in the next few hours and especially what could go WRONG.

Kakashi arrived in his back yard to see his Genins working through the basic set of katas of the Academy, Sasuke and Sakura were correcting Naruto's stance. All three looked up when he landed only a few meters away from them.

"Get inside we need to talk." His voice broke no argument.

Inside Shiori was sitting in her designated work area and was in the middle of sorting through her paperwork; she had just returned from her visit at the tea house and picking up Hinako when she noticed the commotion in front of her window. Kakashi was talking to his students with a grave face and then Genma, Raido and Gai jumped down from the trees, all in ANBU gear without the masks. Team Seven went pale and then the group of ninja came into the house. Shiori's hands shook while she stood up, whatever had happened was big, with a few steps she had arrived at Hinako's play area and picked the confused girl up before turning to the opening door on her left.

"Shiori, I need you and the kids to go into look down as soon as we are gone." Her husband said without beating around the bush.

Shiori swallowed before she nodded and then ushered Kakashi's Genin into the cellar to show them where the security seals were located. It was the newest addition of house security on which Kakashi had insisted on after Yugao had been introduced to her, because while the kunoichi was a primarily kenjutsu user she had the best barrier Fuinjutsu skills out of Kakashi's friends. The violet haired young woman had spent a whole week painting seals all over the house and had reinforced the walls and set up a basic barrier. The Fuinjutsu and chakra construct would not hold back skilled attacker for long but it still was a pesky obstacle and would give residents inside more time to either escape through the hidden tunnel or for the cavalry to arrive. For that reason Kakashi had shown her some light chakra exercises to help her focus chakra to her hands and into the seals to activate them and while Shiori had practiced pushing chakra through her hands, which was a lot harder than she would have thought, she still wasn't proficient enough to activate the complete house security. The Genin on the other hand would not only have enough chakra to activate it but Naruto's reservoir would make the barrier a lot more powerful than a normal one.  
After giving the preteens a quick rundown where they would have to activate what, Shiori led them back up again and into the living room, Kakashi and the other adult ninja had taken over the tea room that held the most privacy seals and seemed to discuss whatever had him so high-strung.

Her husband's students were playing distractedly with Hinako while Shiori made some tea for the four of them, she was working through all the knowledge she possessed about Naruto Cannon but nothing shined up what could have been the cause for this.  
Shiori looked up when she heard the door opening from the tea room, out came all the ninja she had been introduced to, minus Tenzo and Hayate who were on missions. All of them wore black ops uniforms or decked out in the standard uniform that would give them the most protection. Whatever was happening was serious, very serious.


	39. Chapter 39

**On a personal note, my cousin's girlfriend just gave birth to my second cousin nearly a month too early and he is healthy and ADORABLE! *happy happy happy* -this is the first baby in that generation and my other cousins and I had a spontaneous party with … a lot of fun :D**

**Chapter 39**

Shiori saw out of the corner of her eyes how Hinako toddled up to Genma who was standing right behind Kakashi in ANBU gear but without mask. The senbon wielder instantly lifted her up and carried her into the circle of adult shinobi. Kakashi's students looked completely out of their depth and also a bit cowed and so stayed seated on the couch with occasionally sending a quick look at Hinako who was passed from shinobi to shinobi.

"Shiori, I need to talk to you." Kakashi said just loud enough for his wife to hear him.

Said civilian nodded before she instinctively grabbed for one of his hands and led him into her bureau area after closing the door behind them. She turned around quietly and watched while Kakashi visibly tried to find words for what was about to go down.

Kakashi stocked a few times before he said, "There is very precarious mission going on in Konoha right now,… it is dangerous and could potentially lead to a massive backslash so not a lot of us are involved…. I can't guarantee that all of us will survive it,… Shiori should something happen to me… I have already talked to our lawyer about this and he agreed to keep you two under wraps as much as possible,… I… the guys promised to help you should this happen,… just…Hinako, … my Team… please don't… they need someone to…"

Shiori nodded mechanically while she listened numbly to Kakashi's halted and somewhat disjointed speech. To be honest she had no idea what to think at that moment but she knew that Kakashi needed to be able to concentrate on this mission whatever it was.

Her voice was strangely listless when she said, "I… I promise, the kids are going to be fine,… I will take care of them… all of them… and I will explain… I'm not going to let them deal with this on their own."

"Good,… good." Kakashi just said, "I left a lot of instructions with Atsuka-san,… Shiori… I… if I could…" the last part was said unsurely.

"I know, this is your duty, it's what you do… don't worry… should, SHOULD something happen I will take care of everything,… just,… just concentrate on this mission and coming back to us, everything is going to be fine." now Shiori couldn't suppress the tears anymore, how do you react when your husband tells you that this mission could cost him his life?, "I love you." her voice broke at the last part.

"I love you too,… I love you both, Shiori-chan… and … you are right, everything is going to be fine, just fine so please don't worry." the silver haired Jounin helplessly promised while he held his silently crying wife against his body.

"I know,… I know. I'm just being silly." came the choked reply while she buried herself into his shoulder.

Kakashi desperately kissed her and gently stroked through her hair before the two returned to the living room. There his comrades and students were already waiting; Hinako was occupied by Anko who bounced her a bit up and down. Genma turned his head in their direction and took one look at Shiori's red and wet eyes and looked grimly at Kakashi before he nodded. The silver haired Jounin reluctantly let go of his wife's hand and walked over to his students, they too deserved an explanation.

"We have been called for a mission and I'm not sure how long it will take. I want you to stay with Shiori for at least today and spent the night here." Kakashi said while he looked at the three teens in front of him.

Sakura's eyes were wide and had a suspicious wet shine to them, Naruto looked torn between being angry, confused and nervous and Sasuke simply gritted his teeth and his arm muscles were visibly shaking.

"It's dangerous isn't it?" Sakura asked her voice failed at the end.

"Yes and very classified, so don't talk about this no matter what. I wouldn't even have told you if it wasn't so close at home,… I… take care of Shiori and Hinako for me? I know you haven't known them for long but…" Kakashi answered in a serious voice.

"Don't worry sensei." Naruto said with an uncharacteristic quiet voice and a small smile on his face.

"Concentrate on your mission, sensei and we won't have to take care of them." came the reply from Sasuke while he watched the silver haired Jounin in front of him.

Beside him Sakura nodded furiously unable to say anything without starting to cry. All three of them were getting a pretty harsh reality check of what it meant to be a ninja only a week into their ninja career. Kakashi chuckled, relieved about their easy acceptance and ruffled their hair before turning around to plug Hinako-chan from Yugao. His little girl looked worriedly up at him and clung to his chest, she had definitely picked up on the strained atmosphere.

"Hinako-chan, be good for your kaa-chan." Kakashi said while he carefully stroked through her silver, shoulder length hair.

The little girl nodded wordlessly and burrowed her face into the crook of his neck to breath in, Kakashi could feel her body relax from his familiar scent and then picked up her mumbled, "I love you, daddy."

The Hatake head swallowed and inwardly prayed that he wouldn't have to leave his family so early, not like his own father had done. Kakashi may have a better perspective about his father's suicide now that he had his own family, losing his wife must have fucking hurt if it was anywhere close to what he felt for Shiori but Shiori and Hinako needed him and he would do his damnest to come back to them. With a quick glance he had found said civilian woman in the middle of the shinobi circle, hugging people. Kakashi prayed that whichever way this operation went today that at least it wouldn't affect Shiori and Hinako.

"I love you too, sweetheart." Kakashi whispered in Hinako's ear before turning and walking over to his wife.

Shiori had used the time he had spent with his Genins to hug every last of the ninja that were present and tell them to be careful. She now left Raido's arms and walked closer to him, she had given up on holding back her tears and was now crying silently while she looked at him holding their daughter. This was the first mission since Hinako's birth, since the being of their marriage, that was potentially lethal for him and her heart was obviously breaking but she bit her lip and didn't say anything to stop him. When she had reached them she just buried her face in his shoulder and held him and their daughter desperately.

"Take care,… all of you." was the only thing she said while she smiled at him through tears.

"We will,… stay safe yourself please." Kakashi answered steadily.

His control was too good to show vulnerability in front of the people that relied on him to lead but it was still hard to remove himself from her warmth. He then handed over Hinako, who waved at him and was clearly disturbed by the dark mood that hung in the room.  
Without another word her turned away from his family and gave one last nod to his students before he left through the front gate, his comrades following with a grim and determined air around them.

**Interlude Asuma**

Asuma's heart stopped for a second when Kakashi dropped in front of him and Raido with a dead serious expression and a grim look on his face and said the dreaded words that put both of them instantly on high alert.

Code Zero.

Well, fuck.

It meant that something had gone seriously wrong and they were needed ASAP in their emergency location aka Kakashi's home, preferably decked out in full ANBU gear.  
Asuma swallowed while he unsealed his ANBU uniform and quickly replaced his normal chakra blades with his ANBU ones. Hopefully nothing had happened to Shiori and Hinako-chan, that would be devastating to all of them. In the last few months he had gotten to know Kakashi's wife better, not as well as other members of their group but good enough to know that she was a genuinely nice person and that she really loved Kakashi and that Hinako, her daughter was absolutely adorable. Kakashi's little princess had wormed herself into the heart of each and every one of his comrades and he prayed to the gods that Kakashi's vulnerable family was safe and sound, because if they weren't there would be hell to pay.

When Asuma arrived at the Hatake place he could feel the familiar chakra of Kakashi's own ANBU team as well as Kurenai's but thankfully also the ones of Shiori and Hinako, Kakashi's family seemed to be okay. Asuma's shoulders dropped down for a moment of pure relief before the ash user concentrated back on the situation on hand and hastily made his way inside the house to be confronted with the grave faces of his comrades.

"We are taking Danzo down today, orders of the Hokage." Kakashi quickly updated Asuma before he could ask and then returned to discussing seals with Yugao.

Asuma joined the group around Raido to plan the offensive attack, while his mind was racing. They were taking down the old war hawk? He had hear rumors about the dealings his father's old rival had but nothing had been confirmed, for his old man to now give the order to go after him Danzo must have done something on the scale of Orochimaru. Feeling slightly sick the wind user concentrated on what Raido was saying about securing the Hokage office.

Just like they never had left the black operations the exANBUs quickly hashed out a plan to secure the building and take down Danzo. Kurenai and Anko who had only the barest experiences with black ops listened attentively and consulted them on poisons and subtle Genjutsus for the trap. They would keep to the sidelines and would only serve as a last resort for which the youngest son of the Hokage was very glad, he knew it was unprofessional but it gave him some relief to know that Kurenai was out of the direct fire on this mission.  
All in all it took the team of eight only ten minutes to put together the barest bones of the operation. Anko forked over one of her odorless gaseous paralyzing poisons that she only used in the direst of circumstances because it affected enemies and comrades alike without the antidote. Said antidote was distributed between the mission members before they left the tea room to say goodbye to the other members in the house.

Asuma looked away when Kakashi embraced a crying Shiori one last time, no matter how much he understood that this was the life of a shinobi and that each and every of his comrades with a family went through this it was still hard to watch a crying Shiori and a distressed Hinako.  
Asuma's gaze fell nearly involuntary on the form of Kurenai when he scanned the room and something tugged on his heart. Maybe one day he would have this with the red eyed kunoichi in front of him. To be honest Kakashi's happy marriage had taken away most of the inhibitions against one of his own. Like his friend demonstrated, it COULD really work with the right woman.

Coming out of his thoughts when Kakashi returned his daughter to his wife Asuma gave his pouches a quick tug to check the strength of the attachment before he followed his comrades out of the house, they had a council member to catch.

**PS: This chapter was a bitch to write!**


	40. Chapter 40

**Chapter 40**

**Thank you all for the nice and thoughtful comments I have received since I posted this story, it really makes me happy and helps me to continue to write the story. :D**

Kakashi swallowed painfully while he closed his eyes and listened to the repetitive beeping of the machines that told him that his comrades, his friends were still alive. That this man in front of him and the woman across the room were still breathing no matter how damaged they were. The silver haired Jounin's head and shoulders gingerly moved against the wall so that he could prop up his beaten body and give it some relief while he thought about how quickly luck had turned on them in the last few hours and how luck once more had kept this these two alive until the medics had arrived.

It had all started the moment Kakashi had left his home, he had felt how the Fuinjutsu barrier had activated before the stealth function kicked in and the barrier had faded away from his senses, after that only chakra sensors would be able to pick it up. Relieved the former ANBU captain had turned his attention back to his movements through Konoha's woods. They were taking the long way to reach the Hokage tower along the outer walls of Konoha and then split up into pairs to avoid drawing attention.  
The group moved covertly through four different entrance points and arrived in the secured room underneath the Hokage tower. Inside Nara Shikaku and Yamanaka Inoichi were already talking shop about the happenings in a few hours. Kakashi gave them a quick rundown about what he and the other members of his team had discussed in his home and together with the two clan leaders the silver haired Jounin polished the rough draft into a workable plan.

Kakashi snorted bitterly, he should have known right at that moment that shit was about to hit the fan, everything had fit together too smoothly.  
All three of them had agreed to take Danzo down in the Hokage office to not give him space to escape or call for back up. The attack team had positioned itself throughout the Hokage floor as to not tip off Danzo before the trap closed around him. Only Genma and Raido were directly in the office, they were easy to explain because both of them served as elite bodyguards for the Sandaime and were incorporated in the ANBU protection detail of the Hokage anyway even if they weren't official ANBU members anymore, the actual ANBU detail had been sent down into the barracks for the next two hours.  
Kurenai had agreed to position herself in the front room of the Hokage office; her excuse was to schedule her lunch break plans for the next day with the Hokage's secretary who actually was a good friend of hers.  
Gai, Asuma, Yugao and himself had been in a sealed room that blocked anybody outside of it from picking up on their chakra signature which was directly above the entrance of Sandaime's office. Anko on the other hand could be found in the small T&I archive the floor held, supposedly searching for some kind of information.

To give the antidote time to work the Hokage and the assault team had all taken it half an hour prior to the pretense meeting Danzo had been called to. Shikaku had carefully monitored Danzo's actions through the Telescope technique before sending out an oblivious ANBU operative to summon Danzo to the Hokage. They had all agreed that the less people knew what was going on the better a chance they had to nail the traitor down, because that's what Danzo was, he had committed treason with going against a direct order of the Hokage.

The old shinobi had arrived ten minutes prior the meeting as was his habit and had moved through the secretarial office where Kurenai was talking cheerfully to her friend, both females had greeted the Elder before continuing their conversation the moment he had opened the door to the office.

"Welcome, Danzo." The Hokage greeted while he quickly finished up the paperwork in front of him, his pipe was lit in the corner of his mouth.

Shikaku and Inoichi were seated on a small table somewhat apart of the Hokage desk and simply nodded in the direction of the Elder. Danzo noted his observations absently and tested the air for the particular mix Hiruzen was using before becoming a lot more aware, the Sandaime smoked this particular brand only when he was agitated.

"Hiruzen, why the sudden meeting?" the scarred shinobi asked while he made his way further into the room, absently noticing the familiar chakra signatures on the ceiling and dismissing them as familiar.

"We have a,… bit of a problem Danzo and I'm not completely sure how to handle it." Hiruzen sighed while he moved the stack of paper aside and stood up to walk around the desk.

Danzo was just about to ask for specifics when he felt a strange feeling entering his body, what the,… The old war hawk instantly tensed and rapidly scanned the chakra signatures that had moved into the direction of the Hokage office in the last few moments, he could only make out Mitarashi and she could be explainable as representative of the T&I. A sharp glance at Hiruzen didn't help either; his old rival gave nothing away through his expression and both the Nara and the Yamanaka clan head were once more bent over a stack of documents.  
The only thing that saved him in the next moment was his decade long experience as a fighter, with the speed that had only slightly decreased since his prime he moved aside and so could escape the fatal blows that came from above. His vital organs were safe but his bandage free arm and back had become numb from the punch he had received from Maito and the electrical discharge from Hatake.

Fucking Hatake, he had been getting in his way for quite some time now.

With as much speed as he could muster up he moved away from the two Jounin only to be blocked by Shiranui and Namiashi with their weapons while Usuki and Hiruzen's youngest brat dropped down in front of the Hokage. Confronted with such a big group of enemies The Root Commander felt himself forced to reveal his greatest weapon, he ripped off the bandages of his newest acquisition curtsey of Orochimaru. It had taken nearly a year after the massacre until he had dared to contact Orochimaru and another ten months to get him to agree to this upgrade and after that he had problem after problem with his arm until the last operation only a few months ago had finally yielded some useful results. Of course he had trained with the arm but it was still too new and so the Elder couldn't use it to its maximum capability.

Kakashi's eyes went wide in horror when he realized what he saw on the just freed arm of Danzo's and shouted, "Close your eyes! He has Sharingans in his arm."

Danzo cursed underneath his breath when his Genjutsu activated a second to late and everybody present had already closed their eyes. He rapidly stopped said Genjutsu when he felt it drain his chakra reserves too fast and in turn triggered the cells of the First Hokage. The Shimura could practically feel how the dead cells crawled up his arm and changed another part of his body. Cornered like this he chose the safest path and turned to jump through one of the windows of the office only to change direction in the last moment and shunshin through the wood door. On his way out he destroyed the wooden construction in a fraction of a second and then speeded through the only partially reinforced windows behind the secretary that was pushed down by a furious looking Yuuhi.  
Behind him he could hear loud cursing and as he picked up speed, Danzo could feel eight chakra signatures hot on his heels and then he felt three of his Root agents engaging the group and occupying the same amount of ninja, if he wasn't wrong it were Shiranui, Namiashi and Yuuhi. Now it were only five left and leading them was the blasted Hatake that he was now making responsible for this whole disaster. Logically Danzo of course knew that he couldn't make the ninja responsible without knowing all the facts but right in that moment it felt more than satisfying. In a spur of moment the old war veteran changed directions and sprinted in the direction of the civilian hussy the boy had knocked up and their brat. Had Hatake really thought that he could keep them a secret from him? Yes, it may have taken his agents some time to connect the tea house owner with the silver haired thorn in his side but when it had happened and he had heard about the infant Danzo couldn't have been more satisfied. The little girl would be a fine Root agent in a few years when she was out of the toddler stage, furthermore her kidnapping would also hurt the only other viable Hokage candidate in Konoha and a compromised mind would damage his chance to be chosen further.  
Behind him the Root Commander could feel his pursuers increase their pace even further; especially Hatake's signature was obviously agitated and started to break formation. Good, make mistakes! Danzo thought viciously while he pushed his body further.

Kakashi gritted his teeth while his heart was beating a mile an hour, this couldn't be happening, Danzo was heading directly to his home, where his family and his team was hiding. What was Danzo playing at? He couldn't know about them could he? The silver haired Jounin cursed inwardly when the answer popped up; of COURSE he knew about his family, how could he have been so utterly naïve? The old war hawk was going after his family,… like hell he would allow that!  
Decision made up he overtook his comrades and poured as much chakra into his feet as he dared, behind him he could feel how another two of his comrades stocked in their pursuit, it seemed as if another two of Danzo's Root members had arrived to help their master. Concentrating back on his task Kakashi had caught up to the Shimura within the next ten seconds and was only thirty meters away from him when the Hatake home appeared in front of him and Danzo crashed head first into the Fuinjutsu barrier and unfortunately broke it.

That must have hurt, Kakashi thought idly while he reached the Elder.

The silver haired Jounin didn't waste this precious moment of disorientation and instantly attacked. He got one good kunai hit in before he was suddenly on the defensive side of the battle. The old war veteran was even sprier than Kakashi had feared and he was barely keeping up. At least it seemed as if he couldn't use his Sharingan arm properly, all ten eyes were closed.

Two moments later Asuma and Anko had caught up to them and were distracting Danzo enough that he missed the opportunity to put his fist through Kakashi's ribcage. Anko instantly summoned her snakes and sent the beasts right in the middle of the fray while she kept some distance. She was neither as fast nor as strong as Asuma and Kakashi and was fully aware that she would only be an easy target for Danzo and a distraction for her comrades should she try to attack the Root Commander. Her precaution was unfortunately useless because the moment Danzo had pushed both shinobi aside he rushed the snake user, only Kakashi's last minute intervention saved Anko from being impaled by a kunai. In the following melee Kakashi was able to get a hold on Danzo's arm while he deflected the kunai with one of his own but before he could do anything Asuma appeared behind Danzo and sunk one of his Chakra blades in the strange face in the Sharingan hand and the other partially in the shoulder blade. Kakashi was already calculating how to finish this battle when Danzo moved his hand lighting fast and thrust his cane through Asuma.

The silver haired Jounin's heart missed a bit while he looked at the astonished eyes of the wind user across from him.

An enraged shriek as well as an anguished yell came out of two female throats, followed by a snake that bit into the hand that held the cane lodged inside Asuma. Kakashi's brain stopped thinking and his reflexes took over, in a fraction of a moment he was on Danzo, Anko not far behind him and both of them were attacking anything they could reach. Through the haze of red Kakashi noticed that Kurenai landed beside Asuma and engulfed his chest with green chakra before the two seemingly vanished into their surroundings. Good, she had put them under a genjutsu.

Now the Root Commander became really pressed to win this fight, his wounds were seriously beginning to hinder him and both Hatake and Mitarashi didn't seem to slow down one bit. He would have to put the snake summoner out first, he had already been bitten by one of her beasts and he could feel how the poison moved through his veins, another bite and he would be down for the count. With Hatake he could deal later but first was the poison user due, he HATED poison users.

With a burst of speed Danzo was suddenly in Anko's personal bubble and his left hand snapped out and went for her neck. Desperate to save his friend from death Kakashi's hands snapped out, took a hold of the Sharingan arm and ripped backwards.  
What happened next Kakashi could only see thanks to his Sharingan, Danzo's fingers touched Anko's sealed Ten no Juin and it pulsed once before it started to spread over her body. In the same moment the muscles and bones of the old shinobi underneath Kakashi's hands gave in and with a wet ripping noise Kakashi separated the Sharingan arm from Danzo's body.

The clearing was silent with disbelief for a moment until suddenly the snake user started to shriek and writhe in pain. Wide eyed Kakashi turned back to a dry heaving Danzo, the silver haired Jounin knew that he had to wrap this up fast his comrades needed him.  
Before him Danzo desperately tried to stop the blood flow from his shoulder while counter attacking Kakashi's jabs with his feet. The Hatake could practically see how the blood loss was taking its toll and with a carefully placed backwards flip and vicious kick he cracked the Elder's spine just below the neck.

The once so revered shinobi lay helplessly on the floor.


	41. Chapter 41

**Chapter 41**

Kakashi landed tiredly beside the body of the old war veteran, surprisingly Danzo was still alive but if he didn't do anything the old war hawk would bleed out in the next minute. With a tired sigh the silver haired Jounin wiped out one of his sealing scrolls and sealed Danzo alongside his ripped off arm, this would hopefully keep him alive long enough for the T&I to make suitable arrangements.  
He then turned his attention to Anko who was curled into a ball, writhing on the floor. Kakashi vaguely acknowledged the shinobi dropping down beside him, Gai helped him uncurl the kunoichi and pin her down to the floor while on the other side of the clearing the just arrived ANBU team's designated medic poured her chakra into Asuma's still form before unsealing a stretcher, Kurenai and a just arrived Raido moved to carry their comrade to the hospital while the ANBU medic could continue to monitor Asuma's condition and keep him stable.

The other three ANBU operatives positioned themselves around Gai and Kakashi.

"Wolf-taicho, what is going on?" Lizard-taicho asked while he grabbed the moaning Anko's head and shoulders and helped to pin her down more securely.

"Classified mission, orders from the Hokage." Kakashi only grunted.

The silver haired Jounin carefully traced the black and white pattern with his eyes; it had started to move from the Ten no Fuin down Anko's body. Seeing no other way to get a better idea what was happening to his comrade Kakashi reactivated his Sharingan once more and what he saw was even worse than he had thought. Beside him ANBU Mouse harshly sucked in air, Kakashi knew what the Hyuuga operative was seeing and could only agree. The two dojutsu user could practically see how the corrupted chakra spread through Anko's body and corrupted her chakra network on the way. From the increased cries and keens it was also becoming more and more painful with the minute. The situation became even worse when the Seal started to suck the purple haired kunoichi's chakra into itself and the snake summoner could barely produce enough to stay ahead of it.

They had to do something and that fast or Anko would die.

Behind them the front door flew open and a wide eyed Sasuke and Naruto came through it only to come to an instant halt at the scene in front of them, vaguely Kakashi noticed a splash of pink peeking through between the two males. The sight of his Genins triggered a dangerous idea in Kakashi.

"NARUTO come here!" he shouted urgently.

Kakashi then ripped open Anko's mesh shirt with a clever placed kunai and some chakra control before he bit into his finger and started to draw the bleeding digit over Anko's body in a quick sequence of seals.  
While working Kakashi noticed that his Genin only hesitated for a second before he started to jog over. When Naruto had reached the shinobi group Kakashi was just putting the final touches to the seal he had drawn over Anko's skin. Gai, ANBU Jackal and ANBU Mouse were doing an excellent job at holding the kunoichi's body as still as possible while Lizard-taicho held her head in a vice grip.

"This could kill her." ANBU Mouse grunted out before Kakashi could open his mouth once more.

"Yes but there is no chance of her surviving if we do nothing, so I'm going to take the risk." came the instant reply from the Hatake clan head before he turned back to his student, "Naruto I need you to put your hands at this and this seal and then push as much chakra into it as you can, none of us have enough to overpower this seal but you may have it."

The blonde boy looked wide eyed at Kakashi before he swallowed and put his hands over the sign above Anko's heart and the one on her lower stomach.

"Okay on three Naruto. One, two, three!" Kakashi counted down.

The Uzumaki in front of them activated the seal and started pushing massive amounts of his chakra inside Anko. The snake summoner's screaming kicked up another notch and the only thing that stopped Naruto from drawing back and cutting of his chakra flow was the reassuring hand on his back. Kakashi left hand was a steady pressure between Naruto's shoulder plates while his right was manipulating Naruto's chakra inside the seal, as the seal caster it was his job to help the energy to flow were it was needed and to be honest he barely could keep control of the giant amount, Naruto was truly a chakra monster.  
At first nothing changed other that the seal was now also eating away on Naruto's chakra but a few moments into the activation of the seal Kakashi felt a distinct change in the seal pattern, it was as if something inside of the corrupted energy was filling up to quickly. It felt like a water balloon that had been put on the open tap and was becoming fuller and fuller until it finally burst. Kakashi felt the proverbial bang going off inside of the seal and ripped his hands away from it before throwing Naruto at his teammates who had come slightly closer. Lighting fast he and the other adult shinobi around him jumped back, they still were caught in a massive chakra wave originating from Anko. With a final keen the purple haired kunoichi finally passed out and the corrupted chakra drew back into the seal. Around him Kakashi could feel his comrades tense when instead of the script settling it started to unravel and to the horror of all present something started to wriggle out of the seal.

It was a white somewhat translucent snake, about as thick as Kakashi's thigh.

The silver haired Jounin stared appalled at the thing that opened its mouth and something blue tried to escape. ANBU Jackal behind him was the first one to react and erected a Fuinjutsu barrier so that the blue light, whatever it was couldn't escape. His actions spurred the others into a respond and when the normal sealing technique didn't work Kakashi gathered the last of his chakra to create a Shishō Fūin, an evil spirit binding seal. When the seal settled the Hatake stumbled slightly and was caught by Lizard and Gai who held him up while he caught his breath. The white snake that had come out of Anko had turned into some kind of white sludge and the purple haired kunoichi's neck was amazingly enough seal free.

Now Kakashi became aware of the other ANBU team and the group of medic nins that had landed between the dojo and one of the empty clan houses and was watching them tensely, the moment the barrier went down said medic nins rushed over and started to check out everybody for injuries. Anko was moved on a stretcher and then in the direction of the hospital while a female medic was filling his chakra coils with an emergency chakra transplantation to head off complete chakra exhaustion. Across from him Gai's left arm was set, Kakashi hadn't even realized that his so called eternal rival had a broken hand but he would love to know who the hell had been able to break the Taijutsu expert's arm.

Exhausted Kakashi nearly missed when one of the team of medics asked if the owner of the house had already been interviewed. His body and mind screamed of exhaustion but Kakashi kept it together and sent a sharp look at Lizard-taicho and made an aborted sign to shut the Chunin up and get them all off the property. The ANBU captain barely hesitated before he gave the order to move to the present medics. Most of them nodded and repacked their things as quickly as possible, knowing the drill concerning the black ops forces, only a few stocked but in the end weren't brave enough to contradict the order from the ANBU captain.

When everybody but the former and current ANBU operatives and Kakashi's Genin team had left, the silver haired Jounin relaxed a bit and winked his team over. The three white faced teens looked at him with worry and Sakura made a hand movement as if to touch him before shyly pulling it behind her back and looking to the side.

Naruto finally opened his mouth, "Sensei, are you alright?"

"I'm fine Naruto don't worry and Anko will hopefully be too. You guys can go back inside if you want or stay here but I would appreciate it if you can tell Shiori that it's fine for her and Hinako to come out."

"Hai, sensei." all three of them answered before turning around and running to the house.

"Right,… I forgot that you have brats now." Lizard-taicho said amused while he watched the kids run.

"I have a lot more than that." Kakashi answered mysteriously.

He immensely enjoyed the double take both ANBU teams made when a panicked looking Shiori with a wide eyed Hinako on her hip walked through the front door. Kakashi had decided that it wouldn't achieve anything to hide his family from these two particular ANBU cells, he had worked with all of them but especially with the two captains and trusted them to keep their mouths shut. This encounter with Danzo had shown him that his family wasn't as safe as he had thought it was.

"Hatake?" came the somewhat faint exclamation from his fellow ANBU captain.

Kakashi somewhat regretted the fact that the stiff ANBU masks prevented anybody from seeing the expression of Konoha's finest, at least the body language was entertaining enough. The silver haired Jounin also noted with satisfaction that when his Genin noticed the attention Shiori was drawing to her person they tightened their formation around her. His wife on the other hand only had eyes for him and with some hasty steps she was suddenly in the middle of the ANBU operatives and stared concerned at his bloody west and exhausted form, but refrained from touching. She knew better than to touch a contaminated uniform without asking beforehand.

"Anata,…" was the only thing she said before she bit her lip.

"It's fine, nothing lethal just some bruises, cuts and chakra exhaustion." Kakashi rumbled before he removed his arms from his comrades and tugged at a hair strand.

Shiori's body visibly relaxed and nodded before she shifted Hinako enough that their daughter had a better sight at him and the men in front of her. The young father absently noted that her eyes nearly took up fifty percent of her face, if this wasn't such a serious situation he would have cooed at her and encase her into a full body hug.

"Daddy." came the half loud and mumbled word from Hinako.

It seemed as if she reacted with shyness and uncertainty when confronted by so many strangers and him injured. Good girl, being wary in such a situation was only wise.

"I'm fine Hina-chan. Shiori, I need to report to the Hokage and then check on my comrades so I can't tell you when I will be back,…" the silver haired Jounin said in a calm but serious voice.

Shiori just nodded in acceptance and then turned with a curious gaze to the still somewhat frozen ANBU forces around them, Kakashi followed her gaze and then grinned.

"Right, these are Lizard-taicho's and Wombat-taicho's ANBU teams; they will be taking samples of the battle field and remove all weapons. What happened here is classified, so no matter who asks you and the kids can't tell ANYONE unless you have the express permission of the Hokage." Kakashi explained with a quick nodded sideways.

"We will also put up a guard for tonight until Kakashi returns." Lizard-taicho interjected calmly, it seemed as if he had regained some of his equilibrium.

Shiori nodded thankfully and then kissed Kakashi on the masked cheek, keeping Hinako out of touching distance before she gently squeezed Gai's good hand and gave him a relieved smile that he returned before Shiori turned back to the anxious waiting Genin.


	42. Chapter 42

**Chapter 42**

**Happy New Year 2014!**

The moment the front door closed behind the last shinobi Shiori's tears started anew. Oh god, what was going to happen now? Had her mere presence and interaction with Konoha's citizens really changed so much that she couldn't predict anymore what was going to happen? The black haired civilian didn't know, but damn it, this made things a lot harder to cope with than she had thought.  
Taking a deep breath Shiori turned back to the morose looking teens and quickly wiped the tears from her face before smiling somewhat wobbly at them, all three of them returned the smile more or less successful.

"I'm sorry about this. I'm still learning to cope with the harder parts of being married to a shinobi. Would now please activate the Fuinjutsu barrier?" Shiori said before turning to her now cooled down cup of tea.

All three Genin nodded thoughtfully before they jogged down into the cellar to activate the seals on the wall. They could feel the walls coming up around them before the pressure vanished from their senses nearly entirely. Team Seven returned to the living room where their sensei's wife was waiting with a plate of fruit and cookies as an afternoon snack.

"Please help yourself." Shiori said while she handed a healthy cookie that was nearly twice the size of Hinako's hands to her daughter, the toddler already had an increased metabolism thanks to her father's genes and was eating twice as much as a civilian her age.

"Shiori-san?" came the shy question from the only female kunoichi present.

"Yes Sakura-chan?" Shiori answered curiously.

The tea house owner had been working through her paperwork while Kakashi's Genin had first played a little bit with Hinako before leaving her with three Naruto clones to boss around. The young ninja in training were now occupied with sharpening their kunais and other weapons. They had spread them out over the long dining room table while leaving some room for Shiori's paperwork and Sasuke was showing them how to do this as clean and fast as possible while both Sakura and Naruto were imitating him as precisely as they could. They had learned this in the Academy but neither Naruto nor Sakura had ever resharpened their weapons more than a handful times and Sasuke's way was not only more accurate but also a lot faster.

"How did you meet Kakashi-sensei?" the pink haired girl asked shyly while she checked her latest kunai over for bumps and scratches.

Shiori paused in her work and thought about the question before snorting, "As cliché as it sounds, it was a damsel in distress situation. I was being bothered by a persistent and very drunk admirer and Kakashi stepped in when he hit me."

"That's so romantic." Sakura sighed, before she furrowed her eyebrows and asked, "Wait, what? This admirer hit you? I would have beaten him into a bulb for daring to do something like this!"

"Yes, you probably could Sakura-chan, but you can't forget that I'm a civilian. Sousuke-san was physically a lot stronger than me, even when drunk… I was pretty lucky that Kakashi had taken that route to get home,… a lot of girls aren't." the young mother explained with a bittersweet smile.

"Is it that common?" Naruto asked wide eyed and beside him Sasuke had put down the kunai he had been working on and also paying attention.

"Well not as much to kunoichis or civilian clan members, though it happens to them too. But yes it does, though Konoha has it pretty good under control, the police force has never tolerated such behavior and they run extra patrols around the time most businesses close as to reduce the possibility as much as possible. Still, there are more than enough chauvinistic assholes who can't seem to take a no from a woman and find a way to slip by the patrols. In the more rural areas it's even worse; there it is not uncommon for women to be seen as property that men can just take and do with whatever they want." Shiori explained seriously.

"That can't be real." Sakura said horrified.

"Oh it is, I was born in one of those areas Sakura-chan and have been told my whole life that my husband will take care of everything as soon as I'm married and that I'm expected to obey his every command,... I was a year younger than you are now when my parents died. The villagers expected me to marry a forty five year old man because I had no family left and he offered and they would have continued to pressure me until I gave in." the black haired civilian told the children in front of her, they needed to understand that the world was different than they were led to believe in the Academy.

"But you escaped!" Naruto said wide eyed and slightly panicked.

"Yes Naruto, I sold my family's farm and left as fast as possible on the following morning. I was twelve years old, like hell I would marry someone like Fuji-san." Shiori said wryly while she took note of the Genins reactions.

All three of them watched her fixated while she told them how she had made her way to Konoha and then started a life here. Especially Sasuke looked contemplative; maybe it helped him to realize that he wasn't the only one with a tragic stroke of fate and that there are different kinds of hardship.  
Sakura on the other hand had wide eyes and seemed to be disillusioned about the romantic meeting between Shiori and Kakashi, of all three she had been sheltered the most and hearing about how women were still be treated like property, even HERE in Konoha made her contemplate what could have happened to her if she hadn't chosen the path of a kunoichi.  
Naruto in turn looked at her with admiration, Shiori wasn't sure what she had done to deserve this but it made her feel warm being looked up to by the sweet little hyperactive boy.

"All this happened to you and you never gave up!" Naruto now exclaimed while he abruptly stood up from the table, "You are awesome Shiori-neechan, I promise I also will never give up no matter what!"

The black haired civilian's eyes widened before she suppressed a giggle and drew the blond boy in front of her in a hug; he was too cute for words sometime. Sasuke and Sakura didn't know if they should find Naruto's outburst embarrassing or not, and in the end decided to just smirk amused at each other while they watched as Naruto turned red.

Hinako-chan had looked up startled by the sudden outburst from the dining room table and was now watching with big eyes as another copy of the blonde boy she was riding on was now being hugged by her mother,… she wanted a hug too!  
With careful moves Hinako entangled herself from her packhorse and toddled over to the group at the table, the clones just shrugged at each other before they dispersed. Hina-chan only vaguely noticed the sudden smoke behind her; she was to intent to reach her mother.

"I want one too!" came her demanding call when she was only a few steps away.

Shiori looked down from poking Naruto's beet red cheeks at her little daughter, with a laugh she fished the toddler from the floor and settled her against her chest for a good cuddle. The silver haired little girl sighed in satisfaction before her eyes closed somewhat and she breathed in her mother's calming scent.

Sakura cooed while her eyes were fixated on the youngest Hatake, she even had hearts in her eyes, as a result both Naruto and Sasuke threw each other a weirded out gaze before returning to sharpening their tools and packing them away.

They had just finished with putting everything away and Shiori was contemplating letting them run through katas in the courtyard to keep them occupied when they heard a loud bang from the front side of the house and they felt the Fuinjutsu barrier disintegrate. Alarmed Shiori hurried to a window and what she saw took her breath away and made her heart pump nearly twice as fast.  
Kakashi was fighting with a figure that looked suspiciously similar to the Anime Danzo; the two were fighting at a high enough speed that she only could see blurs the moment they moved again. Now also Anko and Asuma had entered the fray and sending attacks in Danzo's direction. Horrified the black haired civilian moved a few steps back and grabbed at Hinako, what the hell was the twisted Elder doing here? He shouldn't be confronted for another three years or so, so why was her husband and his comrades fighting him?

Beside her Sasuke's hands clenched and unclenched before he said, "Shiori-san, I think you should go into the back of the house.", Naruto on her other side looked blatantly frightened but nodded to Sasuke's sentence.

Before Shiori could answer she witnessed Asuma going down, a high pitched noise escaped her when she saw the sensei of Team Ten go down, she hadn't even really realized what she had just seen when Anko was the next that went down. Her screams, even damped through the walls were like a punch in the gut and Shiori vaguely realized how the Genin around her turned white and Hinako started to cry.

Mechanically Shiori hurried to her sobbing daughter on the floor and lifted her into her arms when she heard a retching sound from Sakura and then a satisfied exclaim from Naruto.

The blonde boy turned around and said with a conflicting face, "Kakashi-sensei won." before rushing to the door.

Shiori couldn't do anything to stop Team Seven from going outside and so just bit her lip and stared out of the window while she kept Hinako's eyes away from the scene that played out in front of her. The black haired civilian watched helplessly as Naruto was called over by Kakashi and then they somehow unsealed Anko's Ten no Fuin. Her friend lay so helplessly still on the hard ground that Shiori had problems suppressing her tears. Hinako beside her head started to whine and wriggle but the blue eyed woman didn't relinquish her grip on the silver haired toddler. Only after Anko had been transported away the young mother let Hinako take a look out of the window, predictably she started to chant 'Daddy' the moment she saw Kakashi outside with a group of strangers.

Shiori was unsure what to do now, she wanted to check Kakashi and Gai over but she wasn't sure if it was a good idea, her husband had until now always kept their relationship hidden. With Hinako in her arms it was not hard to guess to who she was married. The black haired civilian was ripped out of her thoughts when the front door opened once more and Kakashi's Genin reentered the living room.

"Kakashi-sensei says it's okay if you want to come out." Sakura said quietly, she was still white as a sheet.

Unbelievably relieved Shiori made her way out of the house, the three teenagers trailing behind her. Her appearance drew the attention of all shinobi in her front yard.

A normal civilian would have at that point turned around and vanished back into the house, but Shiori prided herself on not being one of those simpering creatures. Instead she made her way directly to her husband, though the intent gazes of the masked shinobi were pretty intimidating the black haired civilian didn't shy away, there were two reasons for this. Firstly these masked men and women were Konoha ANBU, Kakashi had explained the purpose of the shadow forces to her some time after they had started dating, the ANBU forces were the final defense and protection of the village, each one of them had and still was undergoing an unbelievable gruesome training to protect the citizen of Konoha, to protect her and Hinako, so Shiori had nothing to fear from them. Number two was Kakashi's reassurance, there was NOTHING more important to her husband than Hinako's and her safety, the silver haired Jounin had proved this time and time again, so when he said she could come out he was more than certain that nothing would happen to them even when he was injured.

Shiori came to a stop only a arm length away from Kakashi, his uniform was covered in blood and god knows what but the black haired woman just barely remembered the rules concerning soiled uniforms and so stopped herself from hugging her husband. At least it didn't seem as if he had any grave injuries.

"Anata,…" Shiori started before she bit her lip, she had no idea what to say to him, what to ask.

Her husband thankfully understood her even without sentences and so gave her a quick reassurance about his physical state before turning his attention to their daughter. While Kakashi was talking to Hinako Shiori glanced around her, there were seven ANBU members besides Gai and Kakashi, and all were pretty much speechless if she read their body language right. Interesting.  
As if she had talked out loud, Kakashi introduced the two ANBU captains to her before warning her about talking about what had happened before hand. After a quick goodbye he and Gai vanished in direction of the Hokage tower.

The moment their sensei was gone Sasuke and Naruto flanked Shiori on both sides while Sakura held herself laterally behind Sasuke. As a response Lizard-taicho cocked his head in amusement before turning his attention back to Shiori

"…, Hatake-san?" the ANBU captain asked inquiringly.

"Yes, but I go by Inoue in public." Shiori answered friendly while she bounced Hinako slightly up.

"Very well, we will probably be finished in an hour, until then please stay away from the scene." The shinobi with the Lizard mask stated before he and the rest of the ANBU operatives started to scan their surroundings.


	43. Chapter 43

**Dear Readers,  
to head off well meant messages concerning the story **_**Little Purple Book**_** from **_**RosesAreRed14**_**, I gave her PERMISSION to use Mariko's in her story and if you haven't read it yet and like OC's go check it out. ;)**

**Chapter 43**

Even with their injuries and exhaustion Kakashi and Gai covered the distance between the Hatake home and the Hokage tower in record time. They arrived only seconds after Genma and Yugao dropped down from the building across from the Hokage tower, unfortunately Kurenai and Raido were still nowhere in sight.  
Kakashi let his gaze wander over both of his comrades, they were certainly injured. Genma had a few bled through bandages covering his upper arms and shoulders, the cuts and stab wounds must have been nasty to bleed through the ANBU standard bandages, Kakashi was sure that the senbon wielder would have to get those looked at in the hospital as soon as they were finished. Yugao on the other hand had the beginnings of a black eye and she was also favoring her left foot.

"Sit Rep." Kakashi grunted while he forcefully relaxed his thighs, the bruised muscles were starting to give him trouble.

"Raido, Kurenai and me engaged the Root operatives; we could bring the three down with some difficulty. One of them was a wind user and he hit me with Wind Blades, so I stayed behind to get them to T&I and get the cuts looked at. We sent Kurenai ahead as back up for you guys and Raido helped me patch up my wounds somewhat before following her. I sealed those bastards and brought them back to Inoichi, the ANBU medic could stop the inner bleeding but there is something in the cuts that stops chakra healing and they will have to heal naturally." Genma reported in a relative calm voice.

Kakashi nodded before looking at Yugao.

"Gai and I engaged the next Root members; one was a weapon master and the other an Earth user. Gai fought the weapon master and nearly won but when the bastard changed direction in the middle of the fight to go after me, Gai had to put an arm in front of the hammer the guy was swinging, I'm not sure how bad his injuries are,…" Yugao trailed off when she looked at Konoha's Green Beast.

Said man grinned at her and said in a for him moderately calm voice, "It's fine my youthful comrade, it was a clean break and a medic nin fixed it right up!"

Yugao just nodded before continuing, "Anyway, the Earth user got me with a surprise hit when I was distracted by the attack of the weapon master, my left foot is bruised pretty badly and he gave me a nasty concussion, not that I knew at that moment. Gai sent me back with the sealed Root members, oh and Kurenai overtook us while Gai sealed our opponents."

"The concussion?" Kakashi asked slightly concerned, concussions were nasty.

"The ANBU medic healed most of it after I nearly ran into a wall." Yugao answered dryly.

This elicited a tired grin from her comrades; she hadn't been the first in this group to run into a wall because of a concussion and would probably not be the last.

Kakashi then became serious once more, "Anko and Asuma are in the hospital for critical injuries, I have no idea how they are. Asuma was stabbed with Danzo's cane and Anko had her seal tempered with, Kurenai and Raido are also there but they are fine more or less. On another note the mission objective was fulfilled, Danzo is captured and barely alive. I cracked his spine and I ripped off his Sharingan arm."

The team members were feeling a mixture of dark satisfaction about Danzo's state and worry for their comrades but quickly locked those emotions away when they entered the secured room where a grim looking Hokage along with an uncommonly focused Nara Shikaku waited.

"Mission objective fulfilled Hokage-sama." Kakashi stated while he handed over the sealing scroll with Danzo inside.

The Hokage looked if possible even grimmer when he noticed half of the team missing, "Causality report first."

"No deaths at the moment but both Asuma and Anko are critical. The rest has moderate to serve injuries but nothing fatal or permanent." the silver haired Jounin elaborated to give his Hokage a chance to get his bearings after hearing his son was injured critically.

"Danzo?" the sixty eight year old ninja asked.

"Barely alive. Broken spine, some serious cuts on the back and I removed his Sharingan arm." The team captain answered quickly.

"Good." was his only reply.

"Cover story?" the Hatake inquired politely.

"Infiltration. Danzo was critically wounded and is under ANBU protection. The Infiltrator was discovered. Your team engaged him and his team members. Classified as SS-rank mission." came the lazy answer of the Nara clan head on the side, he had returned to his normal slump after hearing the news of Danzo's capture.

"Understood." all team members answered before bowing to their leader and leaving the room, the rest would be up to the T&I division and the Hokage.

"Hospital?" Yugao asked tentatively.

"Hospital." Kakashi acknowledged and the four made their way to the most dreaded building in Konoha, at least for the shinobi.

When they arrived at said building they made their way to the second floor, where an entire section of the hospital was hidden from view, not many ninja and even less civilians were aware of this section of the hospital. It had been added to the original building only a few years ago and contained an ANBU secured ward for high profile clients and ninja. The whole section was placed under a Fuin-Genjutsu which meant that it siphoned chakra directly out of the earth and the plants around the hospital into the Genjutsu. For people to enter it they needed to be led by an ANBU member who was aware of the correct chakra pattern to create a hole in the Genjutsu wall. Furthermore there were two chakra sensors twenty four hours at the only spot where the Genjutsu could be opened from the outside, the ninja committed the chakra signature to heart and kept track of who entered and who left. It had been modeled after the spherical barrier around Konoha with a few additional adaptations that made it nearly insurmountable thanks to it reduced size. The inventor had unfortunately died during an ANBU mission only half a year after implementing his idea, since then Konoha's Fuinjutsu force had been trying to recreate it.

When Kakashi's team arrived they at first ignored the hidden section and walked down another corridor that contained emergency rooms for the black ops operatives. With a quick chakra probe the silver haired Jounin had located both Kurenai and Raido only a few doors down in the corridor, hastily he made his way to the two ninja, his comrades hot on his heels. Both ninja looked worried while they watched the two operating rooms in front of them.

"Any news?" Kakashi asked quietly while he sank into a hard plastic seat beside Kurenai.

The kunoichi swallowed before she said, "Asuma went into cardiac arrest two times before we arrived at the hospital, they have been operating on him nonstop since then. Anko was placed straight into a healing coma; apparently she had just enough chakra left to last her to the hospital. They had to do an emergency chakra transfer and then hooked her up to liquid chakra supplements. At the moment they are working to get her chakra system stabilized, whatever happened to it damaged it severely, they can't say if it's going to affect her in the future." at the last part Kurenai's voice had become grim, a damaged chakra system was normally a death blow to a shinobi career.

Around Kakashi the ninja grimaced, Anko's ninja career was her life; it would kill her if she couldn't do it anymore. The silver haired Jounin was just about to say something encouraging when one of the emergency rooms signs reported that the operation was completed. As a unit the ninja stood up and waited for the door to open.

Out came three medic nins and a nurse who wheeled a painfully pale Anko out of the room.

"Are you her team?" after Kakashi nodded in confirmation the medic nin continued, "Well she survived the chakra transplantation and fixing of her damaged coils, so she is not longer in a critical condition. However we can't tell anything about the true state of her chakra system until she wakes up and starts to use it. We are cautiously optimistic but it is still a game of wait and see at the moment." the brown haired man said seriously before leaving along the other two medics.

Kakashi moved closer to his unconscious teammate and watched her pale face for a moment before he, Raido and Yugao followed the nurse in direction of the Genjutsu barrier. The nurse wheeled Anko in front of the secure ward and waited a moment to give the chakra sensors enough time to imprint Anko's nearly invisible chakra signature into their minds before placing the snake summoner in an empty two bed room. There she connected the purple haired young woman with a few machines and then left the room. Yugao and Raido settled beside her bed while Kakashi returned to the emergency room that contained Asuma.

It took another hour for the light to go out above the operating room and Kakashi team had organized themselves into shifts so that all of them could get something to eat before returning to wait.

The six people strong medic nin team came out of the ER dripping with sweat but visibly victorious, the thirtyish woman with the short cropped blue hair nodded at them before saying, "Sarutobi-san is going to make a full recovery."

Simultaneously the shinobi let out relieved sighs and happy grins, at least one of the two was going to be okay.

"Sarutobi-san will need at least a week recovery before he can even think about returning to light training but we could repair the damage done to his lung tissue as well as counter attack those pesky smoker lungs." the last part was murmured in quiet disapproval.

Kakashi just grinned before the whole team joined up in the hospital room of their comrades, it was little after eight o'clock after a very tiring day and all of them let their shoulders slump in relieve.

Yugao was just about to say something when the Hokage came through the door; automatically all of them came to attention. The God of shinobi distractedly waved at them, his full attention was on his youngest and only surviving son.

"How is he doing?" the Sarutobi asked no one particular in the room.

"According to the medics he is going to make a full recovery." Kakashi supplied while he settled back into the slightly uncomfortable chair.

Their Hokage gave no inclination about what he thought about Kakashi words but his eyes travelled over Asuma' body and the tubes connected to him before nearly reluctantly turning around and moving over to Anko.

"And Anko?" Hokage-sama questioned.

"She will survive but the medics couldn't say anything about her chakra system or if she ever would make a full recovery." Yugao answered somewhat choked, Anko was one of her closest friends and seeing her like this made her feel sick.

Sarutobi nodded gravely before finally looking at the spread out group, "Keep me updated please."

Affirmative murmurs came from all of them as they watched the monkey summoner leave the room. They sat in silence while they listened to the beeping of the machines until Kurenai cleared her throat, "Kakashi? Isn't Shiori going to worry about your absence?"

"I told her that I would be checking up on those two guys after the mission debriefing, so no worries." Kakashi answered easily while he minutely changed his position to relive some pressure on his bruised torso muscles.

"She is right you know. Asuma and Anko will be out for at least twenty four hours, you could go home and rest." Raido interjected.

"And you will do the same? Yeah right… don't worry guys, Shiori knows that in such cases the team comes first. When I haven't shown up in two days to at least change my clothes and take a shower, then she going to start to worry." the silver haired Jounin explained amused.

Did they really think he would leave Anko and Asuma without protection? Granted they were in a high security ward and the rest of the team was also here to watch over them but HE was their team captain, until both of them had returned to consciousness he was going to sit right beside them, small breaks excluded of course.

"Aren't you worried that Root could want retribution?" Kurenai asked curious, the question had been nagging her since she had arrived at the hospital.

As an answer Kakashi snorted before shaking his head, "It's not Root that is the problem, it is Danzo and he is as good as dead. I doubt that Hokage-sama will let him get away after what he has done. Furthermore Lizard-taicho agreed to have operatives watch over Shiori and the kids, so I'm not too worried."

**Lizard Interlude**

Shirakumo Hayama liked to think of himself as a rational and analytical ninja, he was in no way near Nara level but he still had more IQ points than the average operative, this intelligence was also one of the reason that he had been made ANBU captain a few years back. The dark grey haired shinobi was also a very loyal person and loved his village and comrades deeply, so when Hatake Kakashi revealed his family consciously to his and Wombat-taicho's ANBU teams he KNEW that he would do his best to keep them safe. He owed this to the man that had gotten him out of more than one sticky situation. Furthermore working with Hatake had shown him the true value of team work and loyalty all those years ago and what it meant to be a good captain and watch over his team.  
That said man now had a vulnerable family to take care of made his abrupt retirement of the ANBU forces a lot more understandable. To be honest most of them had thought that it was because of the direct wish of the Hokage as well as the upcoming graduation of Uchiha Sasuke.

And wasn't this a mind fuck and a half? Hatake Kakashi had a family.

The silver haired ANBU prodigy, that was lauded as one of the finest operatives ever entering the ANBU ranks and eternal bachelor to boot as far as rumors went, was married to Inoue Shiori and had a toddler daughter with her. Hayama knew that when this was all over he and Wombat-taicho would contemplate this phenomenon over a bottle of sake or ten but until then they had a job to do.  
He watched absentmindedly until the black haired civilian along with Hatake's Genin team vanished inside the house before joining the others at sealing up evidence and then destroy any and all residue. With the small child in mind he also had the earth user in their group changing up the grounds.

When they were finished Lizard asked into the loose half circle, "Who volunteers for guard shift at Hatake's."

The reaction was instant, simultaneously all operatives took a step forward; all of them were ready to help one of their comrades out.

Wombat sighed, "Right,… let's go with one of yours and one of mine and have them change in two hours."

"Agreed." Lizard stated while he nodded at Jackal who was the freshest out of his team.

With that sorted out Lizard quickly knocked on one of the windows to the apparent leaving room and waved goodbye to the Inoue-san and Kakashi's Genins before taking off alongside his team.

**The last part is for titpuce86 :D, I will probably continue the POV in the next chapter.**


	44. Chapter 44

**So I would just like to inform you that you have cracked the 100.000 Views barrier on this story. **

**101.836 Views, 15 C2, 365 Favs, 412 Alerts and 697 Reviews… wow **

**Chapter 44**

As soon as the ANBU operatives left, Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke wandered outside and returned to training area Kakashi-sensei had set up for them. At first they went through the normal Academy katas before working their way through pushups, sit ups and other muscle strengthening techniques. Sakura as always did the fewest of the group but at least she was really trying now. Even with only two days of proper nutrition she already felt a difference, the pink haired girl wasn't so exhausted and hungry after training anymore and to be honest she was also a lot more even-tempered than normal. The civilian born kunoichi in training had hit Naruto only two times on the head throughout the whole day and she felt pretty accomplished for that.  
Seeing a real high Jounin fight had really frightened her and at that moment she was unsure if she wanted to continue being a ninja but then she had seen how Naruto and Sasuke had flanked Shiori and put themselves between Kakashi's wife and the unknown ANBU members and she had unconsciously fallen into line. Her body had just moved, there was no hesitation or fear at that moment, just the urge to protect. When they were back inside the house Sakura had mulled over this instinctual reaction and suddenly remembered why she had wanted to become a kunoichi all this years ago, before even meeting Ino.  
When she was little she had witnessed a kunoichi protecting a group of civilians from a rouge ninja and how thankful the people were and how much respect they had shown the woman. The young bullied girl had wanted to be just like that woman and had for the first time in her life fought her parents to attend the Academy. The pink haired girl could not believe that she had forgotten that!  
So when the boys went outside to continue their training, Sakura had followed them and started to push herself without complaining, yes she may be weak at the moment but she would NOT stay that way for the rest of her life!

Shiori in the mean time was trying to comprehend what had happened at that afternoon, Kakashi and his team had confronted Danzo, DANZO and apparently won. Shiori had the sudden urge to giggle hysterically; it seems as if the Manga/ Anime plot she knew off was now completely useless, oh well. A tiny sardonic smirk stole itself on her face while she started to make dinner, there was really nothing left for her but to live into the day, to do as she thought best and wait and see.  
Her thoughts than went back to Anko and Asuma, she hoped fiercely that those two would be alright, especially Anko had become closer to her than Shiori hadn't thought. The snake summoner had turned out to be one of the first persons to go to concerning questions or worries when Kakashi was not available, even more so then Kurenai who had busy with her new Jounin rank and the fact that Genjutsu masters on her level were high in demand and now the Yuuhi also had her team to look after. Shiori sighed worriedly while she mixed the ingredients for a giant batch of trail mix cookies that she had chosen as dessert. It was one of the simplest and fastest recipes she had perfected in her new life the black haired woman hoped that her family, friends and acquaintances liked this kind of sweet so that she had always a readymade dessert in the house. Furthermore they were also easy to carry around and wouldn't spoil for quite some time.  
For the main course on this evening Shiori had chosen fish teriyaki as well as a lot of finger food as side dishes so that the ANBU operatives that Lizard-taicho had promised her would have a chance to eat as well if they refused to join them on the table.

Shiori felt a soft tug on her three quarter trousers, Hinako had toddled up to her and the black haired woman hadn't heard her approach, the little silver haired girl looked up to her with big eyes and the giggled softly.

Shiori's eyes became soft and she picked up her daughter, "When have you learned to sneak up on mummy? You are getting just as bad as your father."

Her only response was another giggle before Hinako burrowed her face into her neck.

"Are you hungry?" the black haired civilian asked softly while she stroked her daughter's hair.

"A bit." came the mumbled answer.

"I will be finished soon. You can have some carrot sticks until then, is that okay?"

"Yes mummy." Hinako answered before she started to munch on the red sticks offered to her before she stated "Mummy? I want Sasuke."

"Oh, would you like to go to the big kids your dad is teaching now? We can do that." Shiori answered before turning off the cooking plates.

The food only had to stew a little bit longer and the rice cooker should be done soon, nodding to herself Shiori took Hinako's hand before leading her in direction of the back door. Outside the sun was still shining brightly even though it was beginning to get late in the day and the weather was somewhat humid with cicadas chirping everywhere. Beside the dojo building Kakashi's students were throwing weapons at the target her husband had put up only the day before, they were quite good at it. Beside her Hinako squeaked excited before hastily removing her arm from Shiori's hold and toddling over to the group of preteens. The ninja in training looked up and quickly started to remove the weapons lying on the ground around them and on the targets to put them back into their pouches. Shiori leisurely followed her daughter who had quickly reached the group of teenagers in front of them. Shyly the silver haired girl came to a standstill in front of Sasuke and reached her arms up. Said boy wordlessly picked her up and situated her on his hip while he ignored the teasing grins of both of his teammates.

"Hi there Hinako-chan." Naruto greeted her before he tugged playfully on one of her hair strands.

The youngest Hatake giggled and gave a mumbled greeting back, "Ohayo Naruto-nii."

Her daddy had told her yesterday evening that she should add this suffix to the boys names and use nee-chan for Sakura if she liked them. The silver haired toddler had been somewhat unsure when faced with them in the beginning, especially after the loud sounds two of them had made, but after playing with them this afternoon Hinako had decided that they were nice enough and that she would keep all three of them, even when Sakura smelled somewhat icky.  
The blonde boy Hinako had just addressed turned slightly pink while he laughed embarrassed and scratched his neck. Sakura cooed at her and Sasuke just 'hhn'ed while the corner of his mouth went up for a second.

The whole scene was watched by an amused Shiori who had come to a halt some feet away from the colorful group.

"How was your training?" the young mother asked while she took in their disheveled state in.

"Good." Naruto answered sunnily while Sasuke nodded in agreement and Sakura smiled up at her sensei's beautiful wife.

"Would you mind watching Hinako while I set the table out here?" Shiori asked warmly.

"Sure Shiori-neechan." Naruto grinned before he turned to Hinako, "What do you think about a game of ninja?"

The little silver haired girl giggled and squirmed a bit until Sasuke put her down and she quickly vanished into the thick foliage leaving three stumped Genin behind before they got their bearings and followed her frantically into the woods.

Shiori laughed quietly before she looked up at the tree tops and then calmly called, "ANBU-san?"

It took a moment before a shinobi with a canine mask dropped down in front of her and asked, "Hatake-san?"

"I'm preparing dinner would you and your colleague/ colleagues like to join us? Or would like to have it up in the trees?" the blue eyed woman asked calmly.

The ANBU shifted minutely before slightly turning his head into the direction of the woods and then answered, "We are here to protect your family Hatake-san not to eat your food."

"And I'm very thankful for this but that's no reason to NOT join us for dinner." the amused woman answered back, "I have made salmon teriyaki and a variety of side dishes and cookies as dessert."

"We are ANBU,…" the shinobi in front of her now said somewhat bemused.

"And this is not an official mission is it?" Shiori interjected.

It seemed as if the ninja was just about to answer to her last sentence when a slight growl came from his middle.

"Right, that's it. For how many people will I set the table?" the older female Hatake said authoritative.

"…, two…" came the sighed answer.

"Very well. Dinner will be finished shortly ANBU-san." Kakashi's wife said before returning with a slightly smug grin to the house, she had been dealing with stubborn former ANBUs for more than two years now; to be honest whoever was behind that mask hadn't stood a chance.

And so Team Seven returned to the fascinating sight of Shiori and an ANBU operative setting the garden table. Hinako took one look at her mummy handing over tableware to the masked stranger and relaxed, if her kaa-chan thought that this man was okay she was fine with him too. Determinedly she made her way over to the new person and demanded to be picked up. When the man with the doggy mask didn't react Hinako sighed slightly, another one who didn't understand the importance of picking her up,… YET.

With a cute pout and a petulant voice she demanded, "Doggie-san up!"

She could hear how her nii-chans snorted and her nee-chan giggled while they looked amused at her antics. With satisfaction Hinako watched as all three of them jumped in unison when behind them another masked stranger entered her family's territory, serves them right!

Doggie-san in front of her continued to hesitate until Hina-chan finally lost her patience and started to pull herself up on his right foot. Quickly the masked man scrambled to pick her up and pull her closer to his body. His warms were stiff and awkward but that didn't bother Hinako much, instead she buried her nose in his neck and breathed in the muted personal smell while she rubbed her own scent along his breast plate. Another person for her ji-chan collection she noted idly while she played with the closely cut brown hair, it felt like Pakkun's fur to be honest.

"Doggie-jichan will sit beside me." Hinako then declared to her highly amused mother.

"Of course honey, but only if ANBU-san agrees." came the amused reply of the civilian woman.

"My name is Jackal." interjected the out of his depth shinobi.

Across from him his colleague's chakra signature fluttered in apparent amusement while he watched how Jackal dealt with the young toddler in his arms, the traitor. Mozuku sighed inwardly before carrying Hatake's daughter over to her high chair, if he made her unhappy and the little one ran to her father he would be mincemeat. The member of the T&I desperately hoped that whatever happened today would be kept under wraps but by the amusement that ANBU Tiger was emitting across from him he was out of luck.  
Mozuku took then note of the seating order, he and Tiger were across from each other and beside him was Hinako-chan who was sitting across the Uchiha, followed by Uzumaki and the pink haired girl, Sakura something, Hatake-san sat on the head of the table and watched the going ons with indulgent patience.

"Children I expect you to respect the privacy of Jackal and,…" the black haired woman began.

"Tiger" came the amused voice from the other ANBU operative.

"…, and Tiger. So no peeking, this also includes you Hina-chan, if you try something I will be very disappointed with you." finished the young mother with just the right amount of sternness.

The Genin and the toddler nodded hastily before digging into the food. Tiger and Jackal looked at each other before removing their masks, they still had a weak genjutsu around their faces but as far as they were concerned the threat had taken care of any attempts on the children's side, who knew that Inoue Shiori was so good at blackmailing? On the other hand, scratch that this woman was married to Hatake Kakashi there was clearly a lot more to her person that they had thought.


	45. Chapter 45

**Chapter 45**

Dinner at the Hatake household had turned out to be very relaxing and pleasant even with the somewhat extreme happenings of the day. Everybody was full and after finishing with stuffing themselves, Team Seven helped Shiori with the dishes while the two ANBU operatives returned to their positions in the trees.  
Shortly before sun down Shiori finally sent the three teenagers home, all of them received orders to return early on the next day for breakfast and training. The black haired woman reasoned that even though Kakashi wasn't here they shouldn't neglect their training and like this their sensei would also have an easier time to track them down.

Sakura, who had shaken off the last of the fright of the hours before and was now visibly mellow from the good food couldn't help herself and quipped, "Admit it; you want to stuff us full of healthy food."

The black haired woman blinked for a second before laughing in delight and saying, "You caught me Sakura-chan."

After she had calmed down the young woman stroked softly over the heads of the three ninja in training, she wouldn't ruffle their hairstyles like her husband preferred to do but she found the contact strangely soothing.  
Shortly after saying goodbye to the Genins, Shiori readied Hinako for bed before taking her into the backyard once more to say goodbye to the two ANBU operatives, they would probably be gone when she woke up next. The black haired civilian watched contently while Hinako gave both masked men a hug and then stumbled tiredly back to her, it was already past her normal bedtime and Hinako-chan desperately some sleep.

**Kurenai Interlude**

The red eyed kunoichi stared sightlessly at the white wall above Asuma's head while her thoughts and emotions were going around in frantic circles. The whole day had turned into a complete disaster; at first the already precarious mission had gone FUBAR when Danzo had evaded the whole eight ninja strong team and then both Asuma and Anko had been so seriously injured that they still hadn't woken up yet. Kurenai's throat closed up when she thought back at the two times the medics had to restart her lover's heart and the way the medics around Anko had so frantically fought to keep her chakra system from destabilizing, frantic medic nins were always a very bad sign. She loved her purple haired friend, she really did but in that moment she still had been a lot more concerned about the smoking Sarutobi then the snake summoner. Inwardly Kurenai smiled a bitter smile, she had tried to deny it now for months but what had developed as a casual relationship between the two had become something a lot deeper and today the red eyed woman had finally admitted, even if only to herself, that she loved Asuma.

She was in love with this laidback ash user.

The realization had hit her so hard that she barely had been able to keep breathing, she was happy with him! Asuma made her laugh, made her feel safe, he listened to her and tried to help her solve the problem, no matter how small,… she had been so stupid! What would have happened if the Sarutobi had died today? Kurenai would have never been able to tell him how much she loved him. They would have never had a chance to deepen this relationship.

And damn it she wanted this, she wanted to live in a functional relationship with a man she trusted and loved.

The black haired woman thought a bit wistfully about the Hatake couple, Shiori and Kakashi had shown them that it was possible to have a functioning relationship, even between a civilian and a shinobi; therefore it should also work for to active ninja. Kurenai didn't need a wedding or a ring or anything like that, she only wanted Asuma, and okay maybe someday she wanted a wedding and children but that was still somewhat off, after all they were young.  
Having made up her mind about what she truly wanted she promised herself to tell her lover about her feelings as soon as possible, he needed to know.

Kurenai was ripped out of her thoughts a few minutes later when the unconscious shinobi's body in front of her tensed slightly and then abruptly relaxed once more, a few moments later the bearded man tiredly opened his eyes.

Asuma was awake.

**Lizard Interlude**

The two ANBU teams that had responded to the fight near the outer wall arrived at the ANBU HQ in record time where they handed over the gathered materials to the already waiting members of the T&I. The black ops ninja had had a feeling that the fight they had been called to was important but when they were personally questioned by Morino Ibiki it dawned them just HOW important it was. They answered all of Morino's questions as thoroughly as possible but didn't dare to mention Hatake's family with even one word. The silver haired Jounin had hidden his family for a reason and none of them wanted to be the one that divulged that information in their interview, because as much as they respected Morino he was NOT an ANBU operative and they would protect the secrets of one of their own as long as it didn't interfere with the mission objective. When the head interrogator of Konoha asked after the two missing ANBU operatives both captains answered truthfully that they had left them behind on guard duty for the next few hours. Ibiki had looked at them for a moment before simply nodding; it happened sometimes that ANBU members were left behind on the scene to prevent any tampering or to bait spies, especially in Konoha itself.

After finishing with the mission report, arranging for the guard rooster for the Hatake family and completing the last half hour of his shift Lizard-taicho returned to being the Jounin Shirakumo Hayama. The grey haired Jounin stretched before walking down the streets in direction of his home. At the twenty four hour supermarket across from his building he met up with Mimura Hamaki, also better known as Wombat-taicho. Both nodded at each other while they loaded up their sake supply onto the cash point. The two didn't say a word while they leisurely made their way into the ninja building, only when they had arrived at their flat and activated the privacy Fuinjutsus they let their masks slip and let out two deep sighs.

"Hatake got us good didn't he?" Hamaki chuckled while he moved into the kitchen to get the sake cups out of the cupboard and heat up the desperately needed alcohol; some things just couldn't be witnessed without a proper drinking binge following after.

"To true,… on the other hand it's so typical that the smug bastard ends up with one of the most sought-after women in Konoha,... Inoue Shiori,… I have no idea if I should congratulate him or curse him for it. She certainly is my type too." Hayama lamented.

Hamaki snorted while he handed over the warmed sake, "You mean WAS. I really don't want to know what Wolf would do to you if he thought you want to make moves on his wife."

As an answer Hayama just shuddered and chugged down his drink, he certainly didn't want to know either.

The two sat in some silence before the Mimura suddenly began to laugh, "You know on hindsight we are kind of stupid!"

"What do you mean?" his fellow captain asked confused.

"Namiashi,… The behavior of Namiashi Raido… and now that I think about it also Shiranui Genma, those to never EVER tried to flirt with Inoue-san as far as I am aware and Shiranui IS a first class Casanova and he didn't even hint in that direction with her maybe he joked around with her but never in a way that could be interpreted as flirting... And Namiashi always interfered when the conversation between her and other shinobi got a lewd undertone, remember? He always tensed and scanned the crowd as if waiting for something. I thought he just was really serious about going after Inoue-san and wanted to protect her from the behavior of others." the bearded shinobi explained.

"You think they knew?" Shirakumo asked while he loosened the bandages on his arms.

"Who was their captain again?" Hamaki asked rhetorically.

"Wolf-tai… ah shit, yeah Hatake clearly told his team about his family." the dark grey haired shinobi answered somewhat embarrassed.

"Yeah and now Namiashi's behavior makes perfect sense, what do you think would have happened if someone had become too handsy with Hatake's wife?" Hamaki asked rhetorically.

As an answer Hayama turned white as a sheet, "…, Isn't there a rumor about the Hatake blood line having berserker blood?"

"You know, I have actually no idea but I honestly DON'T want to know." the Third Shinobi World war veteran answered.

"…Scary thought,…" was softly murmured from his vis-à-vis.

"And now Wolf also has a kid,… cute little thing to be honest, those eyes were massive." Hamaki stated while he thought of the young toddler in the civilian's arms.

"Yeah, a daughter,… good luck to anybody who wants to date her when she is older." a slow grin stole itself on Lizard-taicho's face.

The man who was Wombat-taicho snorted, "Can you imagine it? The poor guy will probably have half an army of exANBU members after his ass."

Hayama choked and started to laugh out loud, "God let's hope we are still around to see that, entertainment at its best, I say!"

"Yeah,… though this kind of makes me wonder how many others of our peers have families hidden away like that." the bearded shinobi said while his eyes wandered to the window beside him and outside to the slowly sinking sun.

"Certainly not me." Hayama snorted while he refilled his sake cup for nth time.

"Yes but there are a lot of civilian-ninja couples around at the moment. Actually I think there have never been so much as right now." Hamaki contemplated while his eyebrows rose.

This boom of relationships had started only a year or so ago. He himself had never felt the urge to settle down, the ANBU captain with the Wombat mask loved his work too much and he really wasn't what one would call family material,… furthermore he preferred men anyways.

"This boom can also be traced back to Inoue,… I mean HATAKE-san. Her teahouse employees are certainly sought after partners for the shinobi population. …,hell if I wanted to settle down and have a family I would certainly check them out first before searching anywhere else." Hayama admitted.

The two fell in a comfortable silence while they contemplated the relationship situation in Konoha.

"Another thing that I want to know is if the little girl was an accident or not." Hayama said slightly curious.

His comrade snorted, "Have you forgotten what kind of missions Hatake ran? Those honey-trap shinobi simply don't MAKE mistakes like that, no that little girl was planned alright. What is more interesting is if her mother knew of the plan."

"You think Hatake knocked her up on purpose without telling her?" the ANBU Lizard asked incredulous, there were a lot of things you could say about your comrades but accusing them of trapping a woman in a relationship went too far didn't it?

"…, you know a few years back I would have certainly said yes, he has done sneaky shit like this before, though not in that range,… but honestly,… no I don't. Have you seen how he tugged on her hair and gave her a run down on his physical state without having to be prompted? The Hatake that I knew a few years ago wouldn't have given information about his physical state to his medic even if he was close to dying, not to mention a civilian, wife or not. He really likes her,… no he must absolutely adore her to have opened up so much. I'm not sure how it happened but what those two have is real and Hatake is going to fight anybody to death to protect this woman and their kid." The bearded man stated in a matter of fact tone.

"Let's toast to that, to Hatake and his family and their continuing safety." Hayama said wryly.

"Cheers!" his fellow taicho and roommate said before emptying his sake cup.


	46. Chapter 46

**So,… 100.000 words and counting, … I can't believe it.**

**Chapter 46**

Asuma hadn't stayed awake for long, but it was enough time to debrief him and to get the bad news concerning Anko out of the way. The whole group breathed a lot easier with one of their comrades having returned to consciousness.  
After Asuma's awakening Kakashi sent Kurenai, Yugao and Genma home to get some sleep and recuperate somewhat from their wounds. Said ninja had only left reluctantly after much cajoling but in the end obeyed their team captain's order.

Left behind with only Gai and Raido Kakashi took the opportunity to write his mission report and stretch out more comfortably on one of the two sofas inside the room. The secure ward certainly had its perks the silver haired Jounin thought idly before letting his eyes wander back to the woman his daughter called 'Anko-baa' and 'Hebi-baa', hers skin color had changed for the better in the last few hours. His musings were interrupted when he picked up a familiar chakra signature coming down the hallways and entering the room.

"Hatake, Maito, Namiashi." the gruff shinobi greeted them before he made his way over to Anko's bed.

"Morino." was grunted back by all three of them.

"Any news?" the scarred shinobi continued while he took in his subordinates still form.

"She is most likely out of the woods and the medics are cautiously optimistic but until she can use her chakra again nobody can say anything about the full extent of the damage." was Raido's answer.

Ibiki grunted in acknowledgment, his body language didn't betray him but all three men were aware that the gruff T&I expert saw something like a younger sister in the snake user. Said shinobi then turned around to send a glance at Asuma.

Without being prompted Kakashi answered, "He is going to pull through just fine; he already woke up and is now just healing." while looking at his unconscious comrade.

"That's good." The T&I head stated before addressing the three awake males in the room, "Be prepared to take on Root members, we are making progress in the interrogation but we aren't sure if we can break that bastards defenses before his vigilante troop shows up or if they even will show up. Furthermore we have no idea how many of them we will be up against so stay focused."

As an answer Ibiki received grim nods before the T&I expert walked out of the room to return to his work, he and Inoichi would be stepping up their game in the next hour, they needed as much information as possible and if they had to drive Danzo insane, so be it.

In the early morning hours a steady trickle of high ranked T&I and ANBU members visited the hospital room to check on their comrades, they all left after only a few minutes to return to their duties. From the questions asked Kakashi concluded that a lot of wild rumors were going around in the black ops and Interrogation HQs, probably planted to throw off any Root operative from the truth, Kakashi could practically see Inoichi's paw prints all over this the blonde man simply loved his mind games.

Around six am the other part of the Team returned to the hospital room. While Yugao and Kurenai looked a lot better than a few hours ago, Genma was even paler than before and moving in a very controlled and deliberate way. The silver haired Jounin was just about to say something when Tenzo appeared in the doorway. The twenty three year old shinobi came to a halt between both beds and then looked questioningly into the round; it was Kurenai that answered his nonverbal enquiry.

While the red eyed kunoichi was occupied by filling in the wood user about their comrades state Kakashi wandered slowly over to Genma and traced his slightly hunched form with his eyes. The Hatake's decade long experience with similar injuries let him quickly catalogue his comrade's physical state and made him inwardly wince when he came to a final conclusion. The senbon wielder was even worse off than they had feared, with the way he moved he would be unable to even train for at least two weeks, barring that the wounds could suddenly be healed by chakra. Furthermore Kakashi expected that Genma would retain some pretty heavy scar tissue from this encounter.

Having made his mind up Kakashi murmured, "Genma, you are coming with me." before he turned his attention back to the rest of the room.

Beside him the elder shinobi tensed clearly ready to decline the offer/command but before he could say anything Yugao jumped into the conversation, "Kakashi-taicho is right, you need rest and you can't really help in your current state."

"Anko and Asuma,..." Genma tried to protest.

"Will be fine. The moment something changes we will inform you." Kurenai calmly supplied while her red eyes swiped concerned over her senpai's body.

"And I will stay here as well." Tenzo helpfully supplied.

"See, everything is taking care of, now come,… you too Gai and don't even try to decline." The silver haired Jounin said with a final air before moving out of the room with a casual wave at his team.

He felt both Gai and Genma follow him and was glad that the non verbal offer of a safe place to stay along with Shiori's food outweighed their pride,… if barely.

Kakashi arrived at his home to the sight of his Genins helping Shiori take care of the breakfast dishes. His beautiful wife nearly dropped the plate she had washed when she saw the three standing in the door but before she could say anything his Genins had noticed him.

"Kakashi-sensei!" came the exuberated shout from Naruto before he ran over.

Unconsciously Kakashi searched the room for Hinako but couldn't find her anywhere which was strange; Hinako was normally awake around this time of the day.

"Mah, mah Naruto, calm down." The silver haired Jounin said amused while he listened to the gush of questions his blonde student had.

"Are you okay sensei?" came now also the voice of his only female Genin, Sakura was looking at him concerned while her arms were held behind her back and her legs were crossed slightly, her body language practically screamed shyness.

"I'm fine Sakura-chan, why don't you guys go out and start with your katas? I will follow in a moment." Kakashi noticed how his voice unconsciously became softer.

Something about Sakura reminded him strongly of Hinako and he had to violently suppress the urge to coddle her, he would be doing her no favors if he did that. His Genin left dutifully and when they heard the back door close Kakashi unmasked hastily and kissed Shiori, the woman in his arms relaxed and let her hands wander softly over his back.

"I'm glad you are okay." was whispered in his ear before her eyes turned concerned to Gai and Genma to check them over.

After taking in their expressions Shiori moved over to them and offered gentle hugs to both of her husband's comrades. She was especially careful with Genma and worriedly traced the bandages peeking out under the standard Jounin sweatshirt.

"How are Anko and Asuma?" she then asked while she hastily moved to a kitchen cupboard and took out the leftover trail mix cookies from yesterday evening.

"Asuma already woke up and is going to make a full recovery,… the medics aren't sure about Anko, she has to wake up for them to give a diagnose." Kakashi offered while he covertly helped Genma sit down on the living room couch.

"How low on energy are you?" the black haired woman asked while she randomly tugged ingredients out of the fridge and the cupboards.

"About half." Gai answered for all of them when both Kakashi's and Genma's mouths were filled with cookies.

"So full breakfast and some heavy duty desserts, right? What about the others?" Shiori said while she counted the fresh fish filets inside the fridge.

"They went home to get some sleep and hopefully ate there." Kakashi replied.

"I'm still going to prepare some Bentos to take with you." Shiori very nearly fretted before she took a deep breath and centered herself, "I'm sorry that I'm so out of it but yesterday was a bit too close for my comfort."

The shinobi just nodded gravely, they completely agreed. Danzo should have never been able to come this close to Kakashi's family. That the old warmonger apparently had been aware of Shiori and Hinako had sent some very unpleasant shivers down the backs of all of them and they were more than glad that that man would never be a problem again.

"Why is Hinako still sleeping?" Kakashi finally asked about his daughter, he could feel her calm chakra signature upstairs in her bed.

"Your team played with her the whole afternoon and she stayed up pretty late too, so letting her sleep is probably the best, I really don't want to deal with her pouting the whole day." The young mother said wryly.

Kakashi just chuckled and nodded before reaching for another cookie.

"By the way, your daughter seems to have developed a fascination with ANBUs." Shiori said out of the blue.

"Oh?" Kakashi asked while he tilted his head slightly, why had the ANBU guard detail interacted with his daughter? They normally stayed out of sight.

"You know the tone she uses when she wants to get her way with you guys? Well let's just say she has two new ji-chans that cater to her every wish since yesterday. It was pretty funny, ANBU Jackal looked so out of his depth for the first half hour that I had to concentrate on everything else but the two or I would have burst out into laugher." came the giggling reply.

"ANBU Jackal, huh? Interesting." Kakashi said, he wasn't familiar with that particular operative but his daughter had apparently taking a likening to him so he would have to investigate.

While Shiori worked Genma felt himself getting more and more tired until he could barely keep his eyes open, with a sigh and frustrated teeth grinding he finally said, "I will have to pass breakfast, sorry Shiori-san but I think I need to lie down."

Without even faltering Kakashi's wife smiled at him and said warmly, "That's fine Genma-san, please don't take that the wrong way but you look even worse than the time you stayed here because of your chakra exhaustion, go get some rest. I will put something on the side so if you feel up to it later I can bring it to you. Kakashi can you help him?"

"Sure." Kakashi nodded before helping Genma carefully up.

The senbon wielder grumbled slightly about the indignity but then bit his lip and silently pouted when he only received indulgent and amused smiles from the people around him.

**Anko Interlude**

She was gasping for air but there didn't seem to be enough available, the snake summoner started to panic her body tightening up and increasing her distress. Where,… what,… when? Anko's body felt lethargic as if her limbs were weighting a lot more than they truly did and there was a dulled form of pain cursing through her veins. Additionally her body felt raw, especially in the neck area,… what the hell had happened?

"…ko,… nko,… Anko!" a voice called out of a sea of fogginess.

Disoriented the purple haired woman tried to move her head in the direction of the sound, her eye lids were too heavy and sticky for her eyes to open.

"Wha,…" her speech was nearly unrecognizable.

"You are fine Anko. You are fine, you are in the hospital." came a voice somewhere out of the mist, who the hell was talking? And why was she in the hospital?

Slowly some of her memories started to surface, everything was still very foggy,… Kakashi,… the Hokage,… Danzo,… Asuma,… the CURSED MARK!

In the next moment Anko ripped her eyes open and shouted, "Asuma!"

From her side two pairs of hands came around her and stopped her from moving around further.

"Anko, Anko it's fine. Asuma is okay, calm yourself!" the soothing voice beside her ear said.

A quick look to the side identified the speaker as Kurenai, said kunoichi smiled at her gently before easing her back onto the bed,... oh,… ouch,… moving had been a stupid idea. A deep chuckle came from the other side of the room, Anko's gaze landed on the tired form of Sarutobi Asuma across from her who smiled warmly at her. The purple haired kunoichi returned the smile and tiredly closed her eyes before they flew open once again.

"My curse seal!" she shouted panicked.

"Is gone." Raido chuckled beside her, he had been the other person holding her, "Kakashi was able to remove it after Danzo did something to it."

"It's… gone." Anko asked dumbly while now also Tenzo entered her visual range.

Her comrades around her nodded happily while they watched the twenty four year old realize what she had just heard. Unsurprisingly to the ninja in the room a tear escaped the purple haired kunoichi,… and then another and another until she was silently crying while staring without seeing. A nearly silent hiccup escaped her before said hiccup turned into a small giggle that became louder and louder until the woman in the hospital bed was laughing and sobbing in equal amounts.  
The shinobi around her watched with small smiles on their faces while Anko let go of her emotions for the first time in what felt like forever to the young kunoichi.

After all this years she was finally free!

**So I think you are going to hate me for this but I have exams in three weeks, so I probably won't upload a lot.**


	47. Chapter 47

**Chapter 47**

Kakashi helped Genma undress and winced sympathetically while taking in the wounds, yep those were going to scar. It also said a lot about the injury with which speed the senbon wielder fell asleep after his head had hit the pillow and so Kakashi silently closed the door behind him to allow Genma his much needed rest before making his way outside to look after his students.

The three ninja in training were dutifully running through their katas and Kakashi nodded in approval, especially Naruto and Sakura were improving markedly.

"Very good you three, after you have finished I want you to start running laps around the village alongside the outer wall, run until you can't continue anymore." Kakashi told them while he corrected Naruto's stance a bit, the boy's foot work was sloppy again.

All three of them nodded before concentrating back on their workout, Kakashi eased himself onto the bench beside the house wall and entered a meditative state while keeping an eye on the kids in front of him.  
About twenty minutes later, Shiori called him for breakfast and he joined Gai and a recently awoken Hinako at the breakfast table while his Genins started their laps.

"Daddy." Hinako mumbled sleepily while she spooned more rice porridge onto her hair and bib than her mouth.

Kakashi snorted and gently started to pick out the rice chunks out of her hair before moving her into his lap and offering her a spoon full of her breakfast. Dutifully she slurped the mushy rice into her mouth before turning and burrowing her face into his chest after she had swallowed. Kakashi chuckled lightly before arranging her so that she could doze lightly while he ate breakfast.

"I have to got the tea house today Kakashi, can I leave Hinako-chan here or should I take her to the crèche? Oh and what are Anko's and Asuma's room numbers, I want to visit them." Shiori asked when she sat down beside him.

"I can't promise that I won't be called in today, or for the rest of the week really, so it's probably better to leave her at the crèche,… and I'm sorry Shiori-chan but you won't be able to visit them, they are under guard detail, ANBU and high ranking ninjas only." the silver haired Jounin explained.

"Oh,… okay." The black haired civilian said and shrugged her shoulders, ninja rules were ninja rules after all.

**Interlude Emergency meeting**

Inoichi tiredly rubbed his head while he stared at the information in front of him; they had done it, FINALLY!  
Now he only had to brief the Hokage as well as Shikaku so that they could discuss the next steps that needed to be taken to ensure that there wouldn't be a rebellion of the Root agents,… and Konoha's citizens to be honest.

What the blonde interrogator and his colleagues had found out was both better and worse than they had feared. It was better in the sense that the Root agents really WERE loyal to Konoha and with Danzo out of the way they would serve whoever the Hokage appointed but with that came also the negative part. The organization was a lot more interwoven with the dealings of the village than anticipated and should the organization be just removed or cease to exist Konoha would feel the repercussions for years on end. The amount of civilians, nobles and ninjas Danzo pressured, blackmailed or simply bribed was,… there were no words for the amount of corruption the old war hawk had introduced into Konoha's ranks or at least fostered. And this was only Konoha, he had another file of the memories he had downloaded on paper that was just as thick as the previous and contained Danzo's dealings with the other nations, they hadn't even begun to sort through that.  
Inoichi sighed once more, this was a mess of epic proportions and he was NOT looking forward to untangle it, not at all. Why oh why had he agreed to come out of retirement for this? Oh right the Hokage had asked him.

The four hour long briefing that followed was,… the Yamanaka head couldn't describe it accurately, he just wanted to get home, kiss his daughter and crawl into bed with his wife. Beside him Shikaku played with the shogi stones of the game he had brought along. His teammate normally had this quirk under control but when he was confronted with a particular frustrating problem he couldn't suppress it and moved the pieces around until he had found a solution.  
Across from them sat the white faced Hokage on whose face you could count each of the 68 years, on both sides of him sat ANBU Bear-sousui (_commander_), the current head of the ANBU forces and Kusari-sousui (_chain_) the commander of the Hunter nins.

Kusari was an Inuzuka and had started to nearly inaudibly growl throughout the briefing until she had bit through her lower lip to keep control of her more savage instincts. Betrayal of one's Alpha and Pack, especially in such a form was a sacrilege to an Inuzuka, an act that just couldn't be forgiven no matter what and had to be paid in blood. Furthermore Kusari took the Elder's betrayal personal, which added insult to injury.  
The thirty three year old woman had never personally liked Danzo; his scent had been just a nuance too off for that but she had definitely appreciated his levelheaded advice and suggestions during emergency sessions. Kusari had RESPECTED the old war hawk even if he had been a militant bastard most of the time.  
That it now turned out that the man had betrayed all of them in such a disgusting way nearly sent her into berserker mode.

"Danzo has to die." came the cold voice from ANBU Bear.

The man had been commander of the ANBU forces for nearly thirteen years, ever since the previous one had sacrificed himself along with numerous operatives to slow down the Kyuubi and give their Hokage enough time to come up with a plan to stop the tailed beast. He had never fully trusted Danzo, not since he had seen the frustration the old shinobi had provoked in the normally so mellow Yondaime. And so ANBU Bear had always been careful with his dealings with Danzo; he also kept a watchful eye on those operatives that had been sponsored through the old war hawk himself or any of Danzo's connections. Bear simply hadn't liked the fact that the retired shinobi had a say in HIS division. But in the end he still had not expected the true extent of Danzo's schemes.

The Uchiha massacre. Uchiha Itachi,… Uchiha Shisui.

ANBU Bear felt deeply ashamed for failing two of his brightest and youngest operatives without ever knowing. One killed himself to prevent his other eye also being used by Danzo while the other one sacrificed his family and most likely sanity to the village, to his comrades.

ANBU Bear had no words for the utter disgust he felt for what had taken place as well as the returning of the deep anguish and consternation he felt for the loss of all his Uchiha comrades. For Uchiha Fugaku to have felt desperate enough to risk a coup the situation must have been even worse than ANBU had been aware of because while he was a proud man Fugaku was far from suicidal.  
From the memories and thoughts Inoichi had extracted from the now nearly mindless Danzo, the old war hawk had actively encouraged the segregation between the Uchiha and the village and then used the Uchihas desperation to change their situation to get his hands on one of Konoha's strongest bloodlines.  
The deviousness and ruthlessness that were necessary for arranging this had left all shinobi in the room speechless for quite some time. And in the end all this happened because the old shinobi was desperately craving for more and more power, uncaring about the lives he was destroying.  
Yes there may have been some side motivations along his need for power, like preventing a Sharingan user from taking control over the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki, but in the end Danzo's main motivation for eradicating one of Konoha's founding clans had been power and that could none of the present ninja forgive.

"Obviously." gritted Kusari out quietly, the men around her took warily note of her fists and tensed muscles, in their experience the quieter this woman was, the more dangerous she became.

"Danzo the person has to die, but Danzo the public figure has to stay alive." Shikaku finally said from the sidelines, he had been quiet the whole time since Inoichi started to talk.

"Why?" Kusari asked angrily, she wanted to spit on his grave after he was finally six feet under.

"You are not thinking clearly Kusari, I know this is upsetting but we have to put our personal feelings aside and act in a manner that spares Konoha from a devastating outfall and that fast. What do you think will happen if the public get's wind of this?" Shikaku rebuked the woman before continuing, "With Danzo's death his Juinjutsu will vanish and those that are bound by it are suddenly free to speak. As far as Inoichi can tell there are more than five hundred people under this seal, of which only fifty are ANBU Root. We have to locate them all before killing Danzo or we risk somebody talking and sensitive information getting out. This alone is going to be nearly impossible but we have to do this in the next few hours if possible to prevent Root from trying anything before we have the situation under control. Once Danzo is dead their conditioning will force them to look to the Hokage for guidance. Sandaime-sama you will have to appoint somebody, or more likely a team to run ROOT operations until we can slowly integrate them into the normal system, if that is even possible."

Sarutobi Hiruzen just nodded before turning to Bear, "Let's begin with weeding out the agents in the official ANBU force before activating the full division with the emergency act."

Bear nodded wordlessly, he had five confirmed Root members in his division and another three sealed against their will, all of them thankfully in the HQ at the moment. He was planning to send out his two best poison specialists to tranquilize the five and bring them down to T&I for detainment until the other Root agents were caught, he would then decide what to do with them.  
Bear's thoughts then went to the emergency act; it recalled all retired members into service, along with activating the sleeper agents in the shinobi ranks. What nobody but the Hokage, himself and a few handpicked retired ANBU knew was that since the Kyuubi attack they had implemented one of the Yondaime's most genius ideas. There had been never more than two hundred ANBU at any given time since the founding of Konoha,… or at least that was what the Elders, the Daimyo and everybody bellow thought. In truth there had been never more than two hundred ACTIVE ANBU operatives; additionally to them were about three hundred fifty retired ANBUs in Konoha, hundred fifty of them in peek physical condition, while a good percentage of the rest was mentally fit enough to coordinate teams from the HQ. And then there were the hundred sleeper agents, regular Chunin and Jounin that received ANBU level training from a group of retired ANBUs but didn't run any official missions. These agents were Konoha's emergency force, should something as devastating as the Kyuubi attack ever happen again they would step up to fill the empty slots in the ANBU division and would only need minimal adjustment training.

So in total Bear would shortly have more than four hundred fifty shinobi under his command,… the thought was a little bit daunting.

"Let's work through the list and decide the priority of the people the T&I has to interrogate and who can be continued to be bribed." the Hokage sighed while his old hands opened the folder with a list of names and occupations in it.

In the end there were about three hundred people that would probably gladly cooperate with them the moment Danzo's seal vanished including the Root ninja. Hundred fifty of the sealed people could be either bribed or threatened or both and the remaining fifty needed to die in an accident or vanish before Danzo could be executed.  
Of the fifty only four resided in Konoha, the other forty six were scattered all over the Elemental countries and Sarutobi gave a rush order to four ANBU teams already outside the village to assassinate them. None of the present ninja felt particularly guilty about that, all of the targets were part of the underground and had a lot of skeletons in their closets.

**Anko Interlude**

The snake summoner cursed frustrated when the leaf fell off her forehead again, why the hell couldn't it just stick to it? What the hell was wrong with her.

The Hyuuga nurse beside her hummed thoughtfully and then asked, "Are you in pain?"

"No, it just doesn't want to do what I want!" Anko pressed out frustrated.

Nodding the woman activated her bloodline once more and then scanned her body before canceling it, "There is nothing wrong with your chakra system, it is actually healing very well for the trauma it went through,… The problem that you have is that because of the sudden lack of corrupted chakra your senses are thrown off."

„So what you are telling me is,…" the purple haired woman began to say.

"You will have to relearn your chakra control." The medic nin confirmed while looking nearly sympathetically at the kunoichi in front of her.

"Well,… fuck." Anko grumbled.


End file.
